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33  WIST  MAIN  STRUT 

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A 


I 

I 

1 1 


Personal  Reminiscences 


or 


LYMAN  BEECHER, 


BY 


RET.  JAMES  0.   WHITE,  M.A., 

iUTUOB  01"  "RILIOION  AS  IT  SHOULD  BE."' 


NEW   YORK: 

FUNK    &    WAGNALLS, 

10  &  12  Dry  Sthrkt. 
1883. 


IT;^ 


C 


I) 


INDEX. 


Prefatory,  3. 

Hanover  St.  Church,  3, 

First  Glimpse  of  Lyman  Beecher,4. 

Boston  in  1825,  5. 

Revival  Fruits,  6. 

Church  Extension,  7. 

Young  Men's  Associations,  8. 

Boston  Common,  8. 

A  Move  Uptown,  9. 

A  Call  to  the  West,  10. 

Apostolic  Eloquenoo,  11. 

Dr.  Beecher's  Struggles,  11. 

Beecher's  Oil  Jug,  12. 

A  Fight  with  Lotteries,  13. 

A  Fast-Day  Discourse,  15. 

An  Escape  from  the  Pulpit,  15. 

Passion  for  Work,  17. 

Pulpit  Explosions,  17. 

Street  Scenes,  18. 

The  Woodsawyer,  19. 

Absent-mindedness,  20, 

Love  of  Fun,  21. 

The  Lost  Hnnk-Notes,  21. 

Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  in  the  West,  24. 

A  New  Recruit,  24. 

A  Sudden  Change,  35. 


The  Professors  at  Lane,  26. 
A  Theological  WildernesE,  28. 
Seminary  Life,  29. 
Dr.  Beecher  as  a  Pastor,  29. 
The  Class  of  "43,  31. 
Idiosyncrasies  of  Dr.  Beecher,  81. 
The  Lost  Horse,  33. 
The  Missing  Money,  33. 
The  Repeated  Lecture,  34. 
Caught  in  a  Snare,  35. 
The  Dutchman's  Chase,  35. 
Vehement  Declamation,  86. 
A  Missionary  Speecli,  37. 
Care  for  Students.  38. 
!   The  Violin,  39. 
Beecher's  Handkerchiefs,  39. 
His  Spectacles,  40. 
Qoodnaturedness,  41. 
In  Search  of  a  Wife,  41. 
Upset  in  the  Dark,  43. 
An  Alleged  Heretic,  48. 
A  Royal  Preacber,  44. 
A  Conservative  Reformer,  44. 
Many-sided,  46. 
In  Private  Life,  46. 
His  Closing  Days,  46. 


.       \\ 


PERSONAL    REMINISCENCES 


OF 


LYMAN    BEECHEE. 


PART  FIRST. 


PREFATORY. 

These  personal  reminiscences  of  Lyman  Beecher,D.D., 
refer,  first  to  his  life  in  Boston,  Mass.,  from  1825  to 
1832,  and,  secondly,  to  his  residence  at  Lane  Seminary, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  from  1840  to  1850.  The  author  was  a 
convert  under  Dr.  Beecher's  preaching  in  Boston,  and  is 
an  Alumnus  of  Lane  Theological  Seminary.  So  far  as  he 
knows,  these  incidents  are  not  to  be  found  in  any  publica- 
tion of  the  present  day.  They  were  presented  in  an  ad- 
dress before  the  ''  Cincinnati  Club"  of  the  Alumni  and 
Faculty  of  Lane,  at  the  Seminary,  March  1880. 

They  are  now  written  out  for  publication  by  the  author, 
and  completed  on  his  seventy-sixth  birthday,  October 
12th,  1882. 

HANOVER  STREET  CHURCH. 

My  first  acquaintance  with  Lyman  Beecher  was  in  the 
year  1825,  in  Boston.  A  new  and  spacious  church  edifice 
of  stone  had  been  erected  on  Hanover  Street.    In  the  base- 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES  OF 


ment  story  were  the  headquarters  of  the  American  Board 
and  of  the  American  Tract  Society.  I  was  then  a  clerk 
in  a  dry  goods  store  near  by,  and  also  resided  jn  that 
part  of  the  city.  A  church  had  been  organized  in  1822, 
with  but  thirty-seven  members,  and  had  not  at  this  time 
a  settled  pastor. 

I  was  a  meml>er  of  the  society  when  Dr.  Beecher  was 
first  invited  to  preach  to  this  church  for  two  Sabbaths, 
as  a  candidate  for  our  pulpit.  He  was  then  settled  in 
Litchfield,  Conn.,  but  looking  for  some  opening  where  he 
could  better  provide  for  his  family^  for  he  was  in  strait- 
ened financial  circumstances.  Well  known  as  he  was  as  a 
preacher  of  pre-eminent  ability,  his  salary  of  eight  hun- 
dred dollars  was  insufficient  for  the  support  of  his  family. 
His  only  other  pastoral  change  at  East  Hampton,  L.  I., 
had  been  made  for  the  same  reason.  Dr.  Beecher  accept- 
ed the  invitation  of  the  Hanover  Street  Church  and  society 
for  two  Sabbaths,  and  improved  the  occasion  to  make  a 
visit  to  Portland,  Me.,  with  his  second  wife,  who  was  a 
Miss  Porter,  formerly  of  that  city.  The  arrangement 
was  made  for  them  to  come  in  their  own  conveyance  by 
land,  and  for  him  to  preach  in  Boston  one  Sabbath,  both 
going  and  coming  on  their  Journey. 

FIRST   GLIMPSE   OF    LYMAN   BEECHER. 

My  first  glimpse  of  the  noted  preacher,  whose  fame 
had  reached  our  ears,  was  had  one  autumnal  Sabbath 
morning  as  he  rode  up  to  the  door  of  our  new  and  ele- 
gant church,  with  his  wife,  in  a  poor  country  chaise 
covered  with  white  cotton  cloth.  The  horse  and  the 
minister  were  both  alike  very  unattractive  as  well  as  the 
chaise. 

We  lads  were  watc^hing  for  his  coming  in  front  of  the 
church,  where  also  stood  the  Committee  of  Reception 
prepared  to  extend  their  welcome  and  to  introduce  him 
to  the  people  and  the  pulpit.  I  can  now  vividly  remem- 
ber my  own  feelings  at  tlie  time,  and  the  looks  of  those 


t. 


K 


LYMAX   BEECHER. 


V 


fi 


in  waiting,  which  seemed  to  say  :  "  Well,  we  are  sold 
this  time!"  We  took  our  places  in  church  with 
an  unmistakable  air  of  grim  disappointment.  Dr. 
Beecher  opened  the  exercises  and  went  into  his  work 
with  a  will  and  with  such  an  unceremonious  freedom 
that  our  Boston  sense  of  propriety  stood  abashed! 
Soon,  however,  the  fire  began  to  burn,  the  truth  began  to 
pinch,  and  the  audience  began  to  rally  from  their  de- 
spondent wonderment,  and  to  look  around  as  if  saying, 
"What's  the  matter?"  We  all  saw  then  and  there 
that  the  new  candidate  for  Boston  honors  was  master 
of  the  situation.  The  old  horse  and  chaise  were  forgot- 
ten, and  the  three  sermons  of  that  day  were  the  topic 
of  conversation  for  the  week,  and  prepared  the  way  for 
the  second  Sabbath  on  his  return  from  Portland.  The 
same  cut-and  thrust  style  of  preaching  was  repeated, 
which,  v.hile  it  shocked  all  our  notions  of  pulpit  etiquette, 
made  it  a  foregone  conclusion  that  this  was  the  roan  for 
the  new  enterprise.  It  must  be  remembered  that  he  had 
now  reached  the  so-called  dead  line  of  fifty. 

BOSTON  IX   1825, 

The  orthodox  Congregational  churches  of  Boston  at 
this  time  were  Just  entering  a  new  era  of  spiritual  life, 
and  in  their  devotion  and  enthusiasm,  great  anxiety  was 
manifest  in  regard  to  the  new  minister  for  the  new 
Hanover  Street  Church. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  Lyman  Beecher's  labors  in 
Boston  a  most  remarkable  revival  of  religion  commenced 
in  this  church,  which  continued  almost  without  interrup- 
tion for  four  years,  and  until  the  church  building  was 
burned  down  in  18B0.  This  house  was  the  headquarters 
of  a  new  phase  of  a  living  and  aggressive  orthodoxy  and 
also  of  missionary  and  tnict  operations.  When  it  caught 
fire,  publi<!  sentiment  showed  itself  by  a  marked  indiffer- 
ence among  the  firemen  to  subdue  the  flames.  The 
destruction  was  complete. 


6 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES   OF 


i 


The  characteristics  of  this  revival  under  Mr.  Beecher's 
preaching  are  worthy  of  note.  We  had  the  ordinary 
preaching  services  of  the  Sabbath,  morning,  afternoon, 
and  evening  ;  the  weekly  lecture  on  Tuesday  evening, 
regular  Friday  evening  prayer-meeting,  regular  inquiry 
meeting,  and  special  meetings  for  prayer.  There  was  no 
outside  aid  of  an  evangelist  or  layman,  but  an  ine  ased 
and  more  earnest  effort  on  the  part  of  the  membership  in 
closest  sympathy  with  theu*  pastor.  He  often  said, 
''  Brethren,  it  is  my  business  to  draw  the  bow,  yours  to 
see  where  the  arrow  strikes  and  to  bring  in  the  wounded. ' ' 
In  addition  to  the  services  I  have  mentioned,  we  had  two 
regular  sessions  of  Sunday-school  each  Sabbath,  which 
the  pastor  seldom  attended. 

The  church  was  very  small  at  first,  but  every  member 
was  a  prayerful  v/orker,  and  they  carried  their  pastor  as 
really  as  he  carried  them.  Their  co-operation  was  perfect. 

REVIVAL    B'RUITS. 

I  united  witli  the  (;hurch  by  profession  of  faith  Septem- 
ber 1826,  during  the  first  year  of  Dr.  Beecher's  labors, 
together  with  a  company  of  about  sixty.  At  the  previous 
communion  there  were  about  seventy-five  received.  These 
new  recruits  were  mainly  young  men  and  maidens,  the 
majority  being  young  men.  They  were  a  superior  class, 
and  they  all  entered  at  once  with  enthusiasm  upon  the 
work  of  the  church.  So  far  as  my  knowledge  goes,  they 
never  turned  back  or  became  idlers  in  the  vineyard. 
There  were  fifteen  present  at  the  pastor's  first  inquiry 
meeting.  He  was  unwilling  to  call  siicli  a  meeting  with- 
out assurance  of  there  being  at  least  fifteen  who  would 
attend.  At  the  second  meeting  the  number  was  twenty, 
at  the  third  thirty-five,  and  at  the  fourth  three  hundred  I 
Beacon  Laml)ert  thought  that  the  people  had  mistaken 
the  notice  for  a.  preaching  service.  But  the  pastor  was 
enthusiastic  and  replied,  "  No  they  haven't,  it's  the  finger 
of  Clod  I"     And  so  it  was  found  to  be. 


(■ 


LYMAN   BEECITER. 


Soon  after  this,  in  the  second  year  of  his  ministry,  two 
new  churches,  colonies  from  Hanover  Street,  organized 
Salem  Church  at  the  North  End,  on  Salem  Street,  and 
Pine  Street  Church  at  the  South  End  of  Boston.  This 
movement  marked  a  new  era  of  great  interest  in  the 
orthodox  movement  in  Boston.  Dr.  Beecher  was 
aroused  to  an  unusual  degree  of  spiritual  power.  He 
appeared  as  one  of  the  old  Puritan  fathers  risen  from  the 
dead.  His  residence  was  on  Copp's  Hill,  No.  18  Sheafe 
Street,  and  near  by  his  house  reposed  the  dust  of  "  The 
Mathers.^'  Oftentimes  as  he  came  to  the  weekly  prayer- 
meeting  and  lecture  there  was  in  him  a  mighty  uplifting 
of  passionate  emotion,  both  in  his  prayers  and  sermons,  a 
tender  but  grand  upheaval  and  on-moving  power  which 
was  like  the  rolling  of  a  tidal  wave  on  the  beach  of  the 
sea.  Sometimes  in  his  prayers  I  have  heard  him  say, 
"  Come,  Lord  Jesus  !  her(3  are  the  bones  of  the  fathers, 
here  the  crown  was  torn  from  thy  brow,  here  behold  thy 
scattered  flock  upon  the  mountains  !  Come,  O  good 
Shepherd,  gather  them  to  thy  fold,  for  they  stumble  in 
the  darkness  of  en-or  !" 


\ 


CIIUECJI   EXTENSIOX. 

One  of  the  fundamental  ideas  of  Lyman  P.eecher  for 
extending  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  was  that  of  church  colo- 
nization. He  would  often  compare  an  overgrown  church 
to  a  large  hive  of  bees,  that  consumed  all  the  honey, 
leaving  none  for  a  new  colony.  "  So  then,  swarm  early 
and  qften^^''  he  woidd  say,  "  and  thus  keep  the  old  bees 
a-working !" 

I  well  remember  the  original  meeting  which  had  refer- 
ence to  the  question  of  fornung  a  new  church  from  the 
new  Hanover  Street  (me.  The  pastor  was  all  ablaze.  A 
vote  was  about  to  be  taken  on  the  question.  Mounting 
a  chair  he  cried  out  in  clarion  tones,  "  I  move  we  organize 
TWO,  one  for  the  North  End  and  one  for  the  South  End  I" 
The  motion  was  seconded  and  carried  with  enthusiasm. 


8 


PERSONAL   REMINISCENCES  OF 


1/ 


and  $30,000  were  subscribed  on  the  spot  with  which  to 
commence. 

YOUNG   men's    associations. 

It  was  this  year,  1827,  that  the  first  "  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association' '  was  formed  in  the  Hanover  Street 
Church.  The  next  year  one  was  organized  in  Salem 
Church,  one  of  the  new  colonies  from  Hanover  Street. 
Being  one  of  the  ninety-six  original  members,  drafted 
from  the  Hanover  Street  association,  I  joined  that  in  Salem 
Church.  These  asi  sociations  in  each  church  were  a  gi'eat 
power,  and  in  their  combined  efforts  were  not  equalled 
by  any  organization  of  the  kind  from  tha^j  day  to  the 
present.  Our  meetings  were  never  open  to  any  but  the 
working  members.  Our  councils  and  our  efforts  were 
known  only  to  ourselves  ;  but  we  worked  for  the  public 
good,  and  through  all  public  channels.  There  was  in 
Lyman  Beecher  the  most  enthusiastic  sympathy  with 
young  men  in  all  their  efforts  for  personal  or  public  im- 
provement. In  our  meetings  he  was  always  an  inspiring 
power,  "  Young  gentlemen,"  he  would  say,  "  anything 
can  be  done  that  ought  to  be  done."  One  incident  only 
would  I  note  as  the  result  of  our  efforts. 


^ 


BOSTON   COMMON. 

Booths  and  tables  for  the  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks 
and  small  wares  were  allowed  from  time  immemorial  on 
Boston  Common.  On  all  public  days  old  Boston  Com- 
mon was  as  free  as  Faneuil  Hall  to  the  first  comer.  It 
was  the  public  playground  long  before  the  "  Boston 
boys"  of  the  Revolution  used  it  for  sliding  down  hill  on 
their  sleds.  Wheii  the  English  troops  interfered  with 
this  boyish  sport,  young  America  remonstrated  with 
emphasis  against  this  invasion  of  immemorial  rights.  This 
almost  defiant  protest  prevailed,  and  led  the  commander 
to  report  to  the  English  Government  that  it  would  be  a 
difficult  matter  to  subdue  such  a  people,  for  the  very 


^ 


LYMAN    BEECHER. 


9 


boys  breathed  in  the  air  of  freedom  and  stood  up  ooldly 
for  their  rights  ! 

This  preiimptive  right  of  the  people  to  the  old  Com- 
mon for  any  purpose  which  they  might  choose  had  thus 
far  been  unquestioned  till  we  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  under 
Dr.  Beecher  as  our  captain,  assaulted  the  stronghold  of 
intemperance  in  these  liquor  booths.  It  was  a  mighty 
struggle — first,  with  the  municipal  authorities  ;  second, 
with  the  judiciary  ;  and  lastly,  with  public  sentiment. 
But  we  won  the  victory  almost  in  the  dark,  for  no  one 
knew  from  whence  came  the  power  that  triumphed. 
Those  ancient  privileges  of  liquor-selling  and  of  riotous 
revelry  on-  Boston  Common  on  public  days,,  have  never 
been  restored  in  the  least  degree  to  this  day. 

This  was  one  of  the  grand  results  of  the  preaching  of 
those  everlastingly  famous  "  six  sermons  on  intem- 
.»ERANCE,"  by  Lyman  Beecher,  which  I  heard  him  deliver 
in  the  Hanover  Street  Church.  A  greater,  grander,  more 
difficult,  or  more  useful  victory  for  ihe  goor'  of  the  Com- 
monwealth of  America  or  the  Commonwealth  of  Israel 
hr.3,  perhaps,  never  been  effected  than  was  seen  in  this 
utter  overthrow  of  liquor-selling  booths  on  Boston  Com- 
mon a  half  century  ago. 


A   MOVE   UPTOWN. 

After  the  burning  of  the  stone  church  on  Hanover 
Street  in  1830,  Dr.  Beecher  came  with  many  of  his  people 
to  worship  temporarily  in  our  new  Salem  Church,  at  that 
time  without  a  pastor.  His  first  sermon  was  from  the 
text,  Isaiah  64  :  11  :  "  Our  holy  and  our  beautiful  house, 
where  our  fathers  praised  thee,  is  burned  with  fire  ;  and 
all  our  pleasant  things  are  laid  waste."  It  was  the  cul- 
minating hour  of  Dr.  Beecher's  greatness  in  Boston.  The 
sennon  was  great  and  tender,  sublimely  heroic  and 
sublimely  submissive,  to  the  highest  point  of  human  con- 
ception ! 

A  new  house  of  worship  was  erected  on  Bowdoin  Street 


^mi 


• 


10 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES   OF 


for  the  Hanover  Street  Church.  It  was  move  "  uptown," 
in  'I  more  aristocratic  neighborhood,  but,  alas !  the  spell 
was  broken  !  The  hero  of  a  thousand  battlefields  never 
recovered  his  mighty  power  or  felt  at  home  as  before. 


1 


A   CALL    TO   THE  WEST. 

It  was  under  these  circumstances,  that  the  call  from 
Lane  Seminary  reached  him,  accompanied  by  the  offer  of 
Arthur  Tappan,  of  New  York  City,  of  $20,000  to  the  insti- 
tution on  condition  of  Dr.  Beecher's  acceptance.  The 
question  for  him  to  decide  was  one  of  deep  and  far-reach- 
ing interest  both  to  himself  and  the  churches  of  New 
England.  His  heart  had  always  been  wann  for  the  West. 
His  well-known  "Plea  for  the  West  "  is  sufTicient  evi- 
dence of  this.  The  great  battle  of  Grog  and  Magog  was  to 
be  fought  in  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  valleys.  He  longed 
to  have  a  perso""l  part  in  it.  But  it  was  a  fearful  thing 
to  pull  up  a  N  England  oak  by  the  roots  at  a  ripened 
age  and  transplant  it  to  the  soil  of  the  West.  The  point 
that  seemed  at  last  to  turn  the  scales  was  the  munificent 
offer  of  Mr,  Tappan.  Dr.  Beecher  said  at  last,  ' '  I  shall 
never  bring  so  much  again/'  and  accepted.  The  Bo&ton 
churches  yielded  with  great  reluctance.  It  was  a  sacri- 
fice of  no  ordinary  character.  And  to  myself  a,s  well  as 
others,  it  appeared  to  be  the  great  mistake  of  his  life  ;  for 
he  was  not  a  systematic  or  careful  theologian,  nor  was  he 
a  disciplinarian,  but  a  prea(;her,  preeminently  ;  and  was 
never  at  his  best,  even  in  the  pulpit,  after  leaving  Boston. 
Still,  I  gladly  recognizt-  his  great  and  good  work  for  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Cincinnati,  while  its  pas- 
tor, in  connection  with  the  Seminary.  It  is  cldmed  by 
many  that  he  rescued  that  church  and  made  it  what  it  is 
to  day,  a  power  in  this  city.  Beside  this,  the  spirit  of 
devoted  enthusiasm  with  which  he  inspired  the  students 
of  Lane,  and  which  lingers  with  us  to  this  day  was  of 
i^riceless  value. 


i 


LYMAN   BEECHER. 


11 


* 


H 


APOSTOLIC    ELOQUENCE. 

For  learned  dulness  he  had  no  compassion.  Tinsel 
and  glitter,  moonshine  and  icicles  he  abhorred !  He 
would  say  to  us,  "  Better  animated  noise  than  lukewarm 
knowledge  !  Tear  passion  to  tatters,  rather  than  carry  a 
dull  piety  and  a  graveyard  S(jlemnity  !  Theological  stu- 
dents need  a  mustard  plaster  all  over  the  body  to  wake 
them  up,  and  to  stimulate  them  to  intense  animation  ! 
We  need  true  apostolic  eloquence,  or  we  shall  have  the 
theatrical,  artiticial  declamation,  the  flash  and  start  and 
stare  eloquence  !" 

It  was  in  the  '^ast  valleys  of  the  West  that  Dr.  Beecher 
confidently  expected  the  last  great  conflict  would  be 
fought.  He  never  presented  a  grander  militant  figure 
than  when  he  stood  sounding  an  alarm  all  along  the  line 
and  calling  for  troops  for  the  West.  "  Young  men  fou 
THE  West  !"  was  a  more  stirring  battle-cry  by  Lyman 
Beecher  when  in  Boston  than  was  ever  Horace  Greeley's 
favorite  exhortation  f"om  New  York. 


I)U.    BEEClIEll  S   STllUGGLES. 

The  four  years'  v/ork  in  Boston  by  Mr.  Beecher  from 
1826  to  18:30,  gave  new  and  permanent  life  to  questions  of 
reform,  and  also  to  new  institutions,  by  the  unparalleled 
quickening  of  the  public  puke,  and  the  rallying  of  young 
men  to  the  conflict,  whose  love  for  the  cau.e  knew  no 
danger,  and  who  shrank  from  iiO  service  or  sacrifice. 

It  was  ono  intense,  protracted  struggle.  Sometimes  the 
great  preacher  was  down  in  the  dr  pest,  darkest  valley 
of  humiliation  and  despondency.  Physical  causes  lielped 
to  depress.  Dyspepsia  was  a  constant  attendant,  and  he 
found  it  a  desperate  foe.  Sometimes  he  would  turn  down 
a  chair  upon  tlie  floor  before  a  l)risk  fire,  and  lying  with 
his  head  upon  it,  toiust  liis  feet.  Then  rolling  over  upon 
the  floor  with  constant  groaninga,  he  would  say,  "  Well, 
I'm  done  for.     It's  all  over  with  me  now !    I  shall  no 


12 


PERSONAL   REMINISCENCES  OF 


' 


\ 


more  see  good  I  It  is  hard  to  see  such  an  open  door  and 
not  be  able  to  enter  !" 

At  times  it  did  seem  to  others  as  well  as  himself  that 
he  would  really  die.  But  as  soon  as  the  disease  yielded, 
he  was  up  and  at  work  again  with  all  his  mind  and 
might. 

Shovelling  sand  back  and  forth  from  one  side  of  his 
cellar  to  the  other,  and  sawing  wood,  formed  Ms  constant 
exercise.  His  violin  and  his  children  were  never- failing 
sources  of  amusement.  His  peculiarities  were  marked, 
and  most  noticeable  in  his  preaching,  his  prayers,  and  in 
the  inquiry-meeting.  His  prayers  were  original,  compre- 
hensive, sho.'t  and  sharply  defined.  In  the  inquiry- 
meeting  he  was  always  at  home,  and  on  the  alert. 

He  always  seemed  filled  with  fresh  unction  from  on 
high,,  and  was  eminently  judicious  and  successful.  The 
intense  emotion  with  which  he  entered  upon  his  minis- 
terial services,  whether  of  prayer  or  preaching,  seemed  fit- 
ly pictured  in  the  magnificent  incoming  of  the  ocean  surge 
on  the  beach. 

beeciier's  oil  jug. 

To  show  the  wid'^-spread  and  abiding  power  of  his  in- 
fluence after  he  had  left  Boston,  I  give  a  single  incident : 
Four  or  five  years  after  he  had  removed  to  Ohio  and  seven 
years  after  his  great  "  Stone  Fort,"  the  church  on 
Hanover  Street,  was  burned,  I  occupied  a  store  on  the  old 
site.  I  employed  two  Irishmen  to  dig  a  cellar  at  the  rear 
end  of  my  store.  They  cut  a  trap  door  througli  the  floor, 
down  which  they  worked  in  a  dim  twilight.  I  was 
standing  one  day  on  the  floor  of  the  store  watching  them 
work. 

One  of  the  Irishmen  was  picking  at  one  of  the  stones  of 
the  old  ch  zrch  building,  which  had  been  left  with  other 
rubbish  from  the  fire  to  fill  up  the  rear  of  the  former  base- 
ment and  cellar.  After  picking  ot  it  for  some  time,  the 
other  Irishman  said,  "  Mike,  what  have  you  got  there  ?" 


LYMAN  BEECHER. 


13 


The  man  replied,  "  An'  faith,  I  don't  know,  unless  it  be 
Beecher's  He  jug  r''  The  point  to  this  reply  lies  here. 
Our  pastor's  temperance  practice  was  always  ridiculed  by 
the  liquor  men  in  order  to  break  the  force  of  his  preaching. 
One  of  the  current  storit^s  was  that  a  grocery  porter,  in 
taking  to  Dr.  Beecher's  house  some  oil  in  a  jug,  thought 
he  "  smelt  a  rat,"  and  taking  out  the  stopper  found  that 
the  jug  was  filled  with  Ncao  England  rum  !  Now  these 
Irishmen  knew  that  they  were  on  the  site  where  stood 
the  church  seven  years  before,  and  about  under  the  place 
where  the  high  pulpit  was  from  which  stairs  led  down 
into  the  basement.  So,  while  no  word  had  been  said  to 
suggest  the  aubject,  when  the  Irishman  found  the  round 
stone  in  the  dimly -lighted  hole,  his  reply  to  his  comrade 
showed  that  Mr.  Beecher  and  his  temperance  preaching 
were  memories  running  in  his  mind,  though  the  bold 


reformer  had  been  in  Ohio  for 
lieve  it  is  Beecher's  ile  jug  !" 


years.     "  Faith,  an'  I  be- 


A   FIGHT   WITH   LOTTERIES. 


< 


The  circumstances  of  his  ministry  in  Boston  were  in- 
tensely exciting.  The  great  Unitarian  controversy  was 
in  progress.  The  subjects  of  temperance,  slavery,  infi- 
delity, Romanism  and  lotteries  were  hotly  discussed.  It 
was  Lyman  Beecher  who  stamped  indelibly  the  brand 
of  infamy  on  lotteries  as  well  as  inteniperancse.  I  saw 
and  heard  him  do  it,  and  remember  it  as  though  but  yes- 
terday. 

Tlie  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  was  in  session.  A 
bill  was  before  it  in  behalf  of  Bunker  Hill  Monument, 
which  then  stood  a  monument  of  reproa(!h  to  New  Eng- 
land enterprise  ;  for  it  was  but  half  finished,  and  had  re- 
mained thus  for  many  years.  It  seemed  that  tlie  only 
way  to  secure  funds  for  its  completion  was  by  a  State 
lottery.  The  final  vote  on  i,he  bill  was  to  be  taken  on 
Monday.  Burii)';  the  previous  week  Dr.  Beecher  pre- 
pared a  special  seiiuon  in  opposition,  and  had  a  personal 


••■ 


14 


PERSONAL   REMINISCENCES  OF 


invitation  given  to  the  members  of  the  general  court  to 
attend  its  delivery  on  Sunday  evening.  All  the  body 
pews  of  the  church  were  reserved  for  them.  There  were 
galleries  on  three  sides. 

The  house  was  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity.  The  atten- 
tion given  was  most  absorbing.  The  discourse  was 
intensely  dramatic  and  personal.  The  public  and  private 
effects  of  lottery  gambling  were  portrayed  with  simplicity 
and  honesty  of  description,  but  with  startling  and  terrific 
coloring.  Youth,  morals,  business  interests,  social  order, 
widowed  mothers  and  orphaned  children,  the  wreck  of 
homes  and  character,  the  blight,  the  ruin,  the  remorse  of 
conscience  and  the  woes  of  the  lost  in  hell  through  the 
direct  or  indirect  influence  of  lotteries,  were  worked  up 
with  marvellous  vividness  and  power  from  the  first  stroke 
of  the  master  s  pencil  to  the  close.  There  was  an  intensity 
of  momentum  that  was  almost  painful  till  the  matchless 
climax  came.  Then  the  passionate  preacher  stopped  as 
suddenly  as  did  the  wliite  horse  and  his  rider  in  the 
apocalyptic  vision.  His  spectacles  were  taken  off.  His 
manner  became  subdued  and  solemn.  Leaning  ovor  the 
pulpit,  with  his  right  hand  and  index  finger  thrown 
sharply  forward,  with  a  fiery  penetration  of  eye,  and  a 
marvellous  inflection  of  voice,  with  a  most  adroit 
assumption  of  the  pf  4onal  chai-acter  and  feelings  of  the 
petitioners  themselvej,  as  if  tliey  themselves  stood  before 
the  court,  willing  to  assume  the  undertaking,  he  exclaim- 
ed :  "  Gentlemen  and  honorable  members  of  the  General 
Court  of  Massachusetts  assembled,  all  these  things  will 
we  do  for  you  if  you  will  vote  for  our  hill  to-morrow  ! 
and  toe  willfiriisJi  Bunker  Uill  Monument  into  the  bar- 
gain!    Will  you  do  it?    Will  you  no  it  ?" 

He  stood  waiting  as  if  in  anxious  silence  for  an  answer. 
And  there  seemed  to  go  up  a  long-drawn,  silent  vote  of 
relief.  "No  more  lotteries  !"  It  must  have  been 
registered  in  heaven.  It  was,  at  least,  reiterated  and  con- 
firmed in  the  Legislative  Hall  at  the  State  House  the  next 


T 


LYMAN   BEECHEK. 


15 


day,  and  entered  upon  the  public  records,  never  more  to 
be  called  in  question. 

A   FAST-DAY   DISCOURSE. 

The  personal  characteristics  of  Dr.  Beecher,  both  in  his 
private  relations  and  in  his  public  work,  were  many  and 
original.  They  were,  of  course,  interesting  and  instruc- 
tive. He  was  a  bundle  of  eccentricities,  but  of  them  he 
seemed  entirely  unconscious.  The  good  pastor  was  once 
preaching  on  the  subject  of  Atheism  and  Deism  on  a  Fast 
day.  He  was  sarcastic,  humorous  and  witty  in  his  de- 
scriptions of  a  supposed  fortuitous  concourse  of  atoms  in 
their  wanderings  and  assimilations  until  this  beautiful 
earth  was  the  result,  and  then  the  more  wonderful  and 
beautiful  man  was  built  up  and  finished  off  with  heart  and 
lungs,  and  eyes  and  ears,  together  with  a  marvellous 
thinking  machine  on  top,  and  all  covered  with  a  most 
delicate  and  wonderful  membraneous  tissue.  And  ull 
this  by  chance  !  The  audience  saw  the  absurdity  of  the 
assumptions  of  unbelief  so  ludicrously  sketched  in  detail 
by  the  preacher  and  were  wrought  up  to  an  uncontrol  - 
lable  spirit  of  laughter  all  over  the  house.  Suddenly  Dr. 
Beecher  stopped,  stood  silent,  took  off  his  spectacles, 
twirled  them  with  his  fingers  a  moment,  and  then  with 
most  provoking  seriousness  said,  "  Well,  Fm  glad  Fast 
day  comes  once  a  year,  and  I  mean  to  improve  it !" 

Some  time  after  this  it  was  suggested  to  him  by  some 
of  his  official  board  that  it  was  unwise  to  give  so  promi- 
nent attention  to  a  mere  handful  of  obscure  and  uninfiu- 
ential  objectors  to  Cliristianity,  when  he  replied  with  in- 
imitable naivete^  "  I  tell  you,  my  friend,  that  a  small 
drove  qf  hogs  will  root  up  a  great  field  of  corn  /" 

AN   ESCAPE   FKOM   THE    PULPIT. 

At  another  time,  during  a  (bourse  of  Sunday  evening 
lectures  on  Mormt  lism,  his  morning  and  afternoon  ser- 
mons h."ving  got  complete  possession  of   his  mind,   he 


IG 


PERSONAL   REMINISCENCES   OF 


found  it  necessary  to  break  the  connection  by  some  des- 
jtorate  effort.  So  lie  gave  out  a  long  hymn  for  the  choir  to 
sing,  took  his  hat  and  slipped  down  tht  inside  pulpit 
stairs  into  the  vestry  and  out  on  to  the  street  quite  unob- 
served by  the  congregation,  except  those  in  the  gallery. 
A  friend  of  mine  met  him  headed  for  Boston  Common, 
half  a  mile  away  and  on  the  full  run  !  It  was  then  a  time 
of  great  excitement  among  the  Roman  Catholics,  who  were 
violently  against  him,  and  my  friend  assumed  that  he  was 
running  away  from  a  mob  at  the  church.  He  therefore 
raised  an  alarm  and  ran  down  t(»  Hanover  Street.  There 
he  found  the  congregation  all  quiet,  but  waiting  for  the 
preacher.  When  the  choir  had  sung  the  long  liynm  no 
preacher's  head  appeared  above  the  high  pulpit.  As  Dr. 
Beecher  sometimes  was  so  lost  in  improving  and  altering 
his  sermon  while  the  choir  was  singing,  it  was  thought 
that  he  might  now  be  thus  employed.  So  one  of  the 
deacons  went  up  the  pulpit  stairs,  as  often  before,  to  re- 
mind him  to  go  on  with  the  services.  But  he  found  that 
the  pulpit  was  vacant. 

The  deacon  signified  to  the  organist,  Lowell  Mason,  to 
play  a  voluntary  until  they  could  find  the  preacher.  I 
well  remember  the  runaway's  return.  He  came  up  the 
same  private  stairway  to  the  pulpit.  He  now  was  him- 
self. He  had  broken  the  connection  with  his  previous 
discourses  that  day  and  at  once  took  up  an  entirely  new 
subject,  and  in  a  new  train  of  thought,  with  all  the  fiery 
earnestness  of  old  John  Knox. 

There  was  the  most  remarkable  vitality,  energy,  and 
passion  in  his  sx^eech  both  in  the  pulpit  and  on  the  plat- 
form, and  yet  it  was  wholly  free  from  the  least  taint  of 
sensational  clap-trap  from  any  mannerisms.  The  West 
never  knew  Lyman  Beecher  in  the  fulness  of  his  pulpit 
power.  I  am  persuaded  that  in  his  new  relations  here  in 
Cincinnati  he  was  not  entirely  at  home.  Like  a  mighty 
locomotive  engine,  he  had  leaped  his  track  in  coming 
West. 


LYMAN  BEECHER. 


PASSION  FOR  WORK. 

His  passion  for  work,  especiaUy  for  preaching,  was 
boundless  and  tireless.     He  often  remarked,   "I   wish 
there  were  two  Sundays  in  a  week."     The  pulpit  was  his 
grand  arena  of  conflict.     "  Mr.  Organist,"  he  would  say, 
"  when  you  see  me  enter  the  church  door,  lire  up  !  fire 
up!     I  don't  want  to  march  up  the  broad  aisle  to  the 
slow  and  solemn  measures  of  a  funeral  dirge." 
^  To  us,  the  students  in  Lane  Seminary,  he  would  say, 
''  I'd  rather  you  would  tear  your  subject  all  to  tatters 
than  to  reel  it  off  so  mechanically."     He  had  no  patience 
with  lukewarmness.     It  was  as  repugnant  to  him  as  to 
our  Saviour. 

PULPIT   EXPLOSIONS. 

Dr.  Beecher  used  to  pin  together  the  leaves  of  his  ser- 
mon. In  his  Boston  pulpit  he  would  sometimes  knock 
his  manuscript  to  pieces  by  some  sudden,  impassioned 
gesture.  The  leaves  would  fly  down  among  the  people 
m  every  direction,  like  snowflakes  in  a  wintry  tempest. 
Then  the  deacons  would  have  to  gather  up  the  leaves  and 
carry  them  to  him  in  the  pulpit. 

Once  I  saw  him  strike  a  prism-pendant  which  hung 
around  the  pulpit  light,  and  send  it  whizzing  half  way 
across  the  church.  At  another  time  with  a  side  blow  he 
struck  the  globe  tliat  shaded  the  gaslight.  Fortunately 
It  was  not  broken.  At  once  he  adfusted  it  as  best  he 
could  without  the  least  pause  in  the  rapid  run  of  his 
thoughts  and  utterance.  The  gas  was  something  new  in 
those  days.  The  people  were  afraid  of  it,  and  anticipated 
danger  at  the  slightest  disaster. 

The  coolness  of  the  preacher  on  this  occasion,  and  his 
undisturbed  interest  in  his  discourse,  actually  convinced 
one  of  his  hearers  that  Dr.  Beecher  was  a  true  and  honest 
man  of  God.  From  that  time  he  became  a  regular 
attendant,  and  at  last  a  true  and  honest  man  of  God  him- 
self. 


•'*, 


18 


PERSONAL   REMINISCENCES  OF 


.     STREET  SCENES. 

One  Monday  morning  he  took  his  market  basket  on  his 
arm  and  went  to  Faneuil  Hall  Market  to  get  provisions 
for  dinner.  He  was  followed  and  watched,  as  he  often 
was,  by  a  young  man  who  was  the  chorister  of  the  Uni- 
versalist  Charch.  The  minister  soon  came  to  the  fish 
market.  Here  Dr.  Beecher  picked  up  a  fine-looking  fish 
and  asked  the  fisherman  if  it  was  fresh  and  sweet. 
"Certainly,"  replied  the  man,  "for  I  caught  it  myself 
yesterday,"  which  was  the  Sabbath.  Dr.  Beecher  at  once 
dropped  the  fish,  saying,  "Then  I  don't  want  it,"  and 
went  on  without  another  word.  The  young  man  who  was 
watching  him  was  instantly  convinced  of  the  minister's 
honesty  and  sincerity  in  practising  the  principles  which 
he  preached,  became  a  regular  attendant  and  a  true  con- 
vert, and  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  was  known 
as  Deacon  Thomas  Hollis,  the  druggist.  He  was  a  promi- 
nent official  in  the  Orthodox  Church,  and  a  valued  di- 
rector in  the  benevolent  and  charitable  institutions  of  the 
city  until  his  death. 

I  have  myself  watched  Dr.  Beecher  on  the  streets  of 
Boston  while  he  was  following,  watching,  stopping,  and 
listening  to  a  sailor  who  was  ' '  half  seas  over' '  with  drink. 
Never  did  a  cat  watch  a  mouse  with  more  eager  interest. 
I  have  also  watched  nim  as  he  plunged  along  the  street 
eating  an  orange  as  he  would  eat  an  apple,  unpealed.  He 
did  not  seem  to  know  what  he  was  eating.  It  only 
seemed  good  to  eat  it.  He  would  bite  from  it  full  mouth- 
fuls,  rind  and  all,  making  the  juice  of  the  orange  fly  in 
all  directions  over  his  coat,  vest,  and  shirt-bosom. 

His  gait  was  always  quick  and  nervous,  his  left  arm 
crooked  at  the  elbow  and  swinging  with  a  jerk.  He  never 
seemed  to  know  that  any  one  saw  him,  or  that  anybody 
was  about  who  could  see  him.  He  was  oblivious  to  all 
appearances  and  to  all  persons  when  on  the  street. 

The  store  in  which  I  was  employed  was  on  his  direct 


LYMAN   BEECIIER. 


19 


' 


way  to  the  post-office,  the  market,  and  his  church.  Thus 
it  was  I  saw  him  daily.  Once  he  passed  the  store  carry- 
ing one  end  of  a  piece  of  timber  on  his  shoulder,  fearfully 
crushing  one  side  of  his  hat.  At  another  time  he  might 
be  seen  carrying  one  side  of  a  heavy  basket,  to  the  utmost 
dismay  i  id  pain  of  the  one  who  carried  the  opposite  side, 
for  he  seemed  never  to  know  when  he  was  tired,  or  that 
any  one  with  him  could  be. 

THE   WOOD-SAWYER. 

His  wood-saw  was  a  constant  com.panion.  When  liis 
own  wood  was  sawed  he  would  go  out  on  the  street  for 
work.*  One  day  he  took  his  saw,  shouldered  his  buck, 
and  went  out  in  search  of  a  job.  Soon  he  met  with  a  man 
at  work  on  a  large  pile.  "  Halloo  !"  said  the  Doctor, 
"  you  have  a  big  job  on  hand,  I  guess  I'll  give  you  a 
lift,  as  I  have  nothing  else  to  do."  And  at  it  he  went 
with  a  will.  His  saw  was  always  keen,  and  it  was  always 
worked  as  if  by  steam  power.  "  Why  !  what  a  jolly  saw 
you  have,"  said  the  wood-sawyer,  "  Yes,"  replied  his 
unknown  helper,  "  I  always  keep  my  tools  sharp  for 
quick  work." 

The  conversation  was  soon  turned  to  the  one  great  topic 
of  the  day,  namely,  the  new  preacher.  "  Have  you  ever 
heard  old  Dr.  Beecher  preach  V '  said  the  wood-sawyer. 
"  Oh,  yes,  frequently,"  rejilied  the  sti-anger,  putting  still 
more  vigor  into  his  work.  "  Well,  what  do  you  think 
of  him  ?"  "  Oh,  I  don't  think  so  much  of  him  as  some 
do,"  was  the  reply.  The  conversation  at  length  came  so 
close  home.  Dr.  Beecher  stopped  work  and  said,  "  I  guess 
I  must  be  going."  "  But  where  did  you  get  that  saw  ?" 
inquired  the  old  man  ;  "  I  wish  I  had  one  like  it." 
"  Well,  if  you  wish,  I'll  swap  ^vith  you."  And  so  they 
swapped  saws,  and  the  Doctor  shouldering  his  buck  start- 

*  Another  version  of  this  story,  I  learn,  has  been  published,  which  is 
adorned  with  adjuncts  somewhat  apocryphal. 


;20 


PERSONAL   REMINISCENCES  OF 


.' 


» 


'i 


ed  back  on  a  trot  through  the  alley  behind  his  own  house. 
The  old  sawyer  began  to  cogitate.  A  new  idea  loomed 
up  before  him.  He  followed  at  a  safe  distance,  noted  the 
back  gate  at  which  he  entered,  went  round  to  the  front 
and  noted  the  number,  and  soon  learned  that  it  was  no 
other  than  Dr.  Beecher  himself  with  whom  he  had  been 
sawliig  and  chatting.  From  that  time  that  old  wood- 
sawyer  was  one  of  the  pastor's  attendants  and  adherents. 
I  knew  him  well,  and  have  often  seen  him  at  church,  sit- 
ting in  the  front  row  of  the  gallery,  on  the  right-hand  side 
near  the  pulpit. 


ABSENT-MINDEDNESS. 

y^       On  one  occasion,  after  an  evening' s  service  at  church,  Dr. 

(  ^  Beecher,  in  his  usual  brown  study,  went  into  i;he  wrong 
house  of  the  block  in  which  was  his  own.  Every  house 
in  the  block  was  of  one  and  the  same  pattern.  The  house 
which  he  mistook  for  his  own  was  occupied  by  a  well- 
known  hatter  by  the  name  of  Rhoades,  a  Unitarian.  The 
Doctor  put  his  hat  on  the  stand  in  the  hall,  went  into  the 
back  parlor,  where  Mrs.  Rhoades  and  the  family  were 
gathered,  drew  a  chair  up  to  the  fire,  put  his  feet  on  the 
mantel  over  the  grate  to  warm,  turned  back  his  chair,  and 
/  leaned  back  his  head  simply  thinking. 
"^N^  In  this  attitude  he  noticed  a  French  clock  under  glass 
upon  the  mantel.  "  Wife,"  he  exclaimed,  "  wherein  the 
world  did  you  get  that  clocks"  No  answer.  No  one 
(^ould  answer,  they  were  so  full  of  merriment  over  the 
good  minister  s  absence  of  mind.  "  I  say,  wife,  where 
did  you  get  that  clock?"  Mrs.  Rhoades  was  a  lady. 
She  put  her  hand  gently  upon  his  shoulder,  and  in  her 
sweetest  tone  said,  "  Dr.  Beecher,  you  have  made  a  mis- 
take, and  got  into  the  wrong  house."  The  surprised  in- 
truder cast  a  quick  glance  around  upon  the  family  circle, 
sprung  from  his  chah',  and  ^ith  a  bound  was  out  of  the 
house,  without  a  word  of  explanation  or  excuse. 


LYMAN   BEECHER. 


21 


LOVE    OF  FUN. 

Dr.  Beecher  was  fond  of  amusements  and  of  real  fun,  as 
well  as  of  hard  work  and  preaching.  His  violin  was  as 
often  beard  as  his  saw,  and  heard  not  only  in  his  study, 
which  was  in  the  upper  story  of  his  house,  but  also  in  the 
family  circle  and  at  family  prayers. 

At  times,  he  was  so  absorbed  in  writing  his  sermon 
when  called  to  family  worship,  that  he  would  call  for  his 
violin,  and  with  its  lively  notes  break  the  connection  and 
free  his  thoughts  for  the  service  in  hand. 

There  was  a  perennial  fountain  of  boyish  spirits  in  the 
heart  of  Lyman  Beecher.  1  once  called  at  his  house  with 
a  young  friend  to  see  his  children,  soon  after  his  arrival 
in  Boston.  One  of  the  daughters  responded  to  the  call. 
After  an  introduction  she  said,  "  \Ve  are  having  fun  with 
father  in  the  dining-room.  Come  out  and  see  us."  So 
we  both  went  out  to  see  the  fun.  And,  sure  enough, 
ihere  was  Dr.  Beecher  on  •'  all  fours,"  with  two  children 
on  his  back  playing  "riding  horse."  He  would  run 
horse  fashion,  trot,  gallop,  stop,  run  back,  kick  up,  throw 
the  riders,  and  then  run  away,  with  all  ^he  children  after 
him  screaming  with  delight. 

THE  LOST  BANK-NOTES. 

When  Dr.  Beecher  moved  his  family  from  Litchfield  to 
Boston,  he  took  a  house  with  double  parlors,  dining-room 
and  kitchen  on  the  first  floor.*  The  parlors  remained 
unfurnished,  and  the  ladies  of  his  congregation  waiting 
some  time  for  opportunity  to  call,  learned  from  Mrs. 
Beecher  that  they  had  neither  suitable  furniture  nor 
money  with  which  to  purchase.  The  ladies  soon  made  up 
a  purse  of  one  hundred  dollars,  and  gave  it  to  the  pastor, 
with  the  remark  that  it  was  expressly  designed  for  fur- 
nishing the  parlors. 

*  This  incident  is  very  briefly  alluded  to  in  the  "Autobiography,"  by 
Charles  Beecher.     2  vols.,  Harper  Brothers,  1865,  page  227. 


X 


%i 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES  OF 


After  proper  waiting  they  called  again,  but  no  parlor 
furniture  appeared.  Yet  again,  but  the  parlors  still  re- 
mained unfurnished,  Mrs.  Beecher  was  kindly  informed 
that  a  sum  of  money  had  been  given  to  her  husband  to  pur- 
chase furniture.  She,  however,  had  known  nothing  of  the 
matter.  He  was  therefore  called  to  an  account.  The  for- 
getful man  was  in  a  maze.  He  said  that  he  rather 
thought  they  had  given  him  something,  but  could  not 
remember  what  he  did  with  it.  It  must  be  in  his  pockets 
somewhere,  he  thought.  Having  searched  his  vest 
pockets,  his  pantaloons,  and  his  coat,  he  found  no  money 
anywhere.  Thus  Mrs.  Beecher  reported  to  the  ladies, 
under  great  mortification. 

There  was  no  way  left  but  to  collect  another  hundred 
dollars,  which  in  those  days  was  quite  a  sum,  and  then, 
as  they  had  learned  a  new  lesson,  to  purchase  the  furni- 
ture themselves.  They  did  so  and  saw  it  put  in  its  proper 
place  with  their  own  hands.  This  done,  the  next  step  was 
an  "investigation"  for  the  missing  money.  Little  by 
little,  they  found,  not  the  money,  but  where  it  went  to. 
Of  course  the  minister  had  neither  spent  nor  lost  it,  but 
he  had  tucked  the  'roll  of  bills  hard  down  in  his  vest 
pocket,  and  remembered  no  more  about  them.  Now  all 
this  happened  at  a  time  of  great  excitement  about  a  six 
days'  line  of  stage  coaches  from  Albany,  N.  Y.,  to  the 
West,  in  opposition  to  the  old  Sabbath-breaking  line,  in 
which  a  Mr.  Bissell  had  a  great  interest.  Public  meet- 
ings were  held,  speeches  made  and  collections  taken  in 
aid  of  the  new  enterprise.  Dr.  Beecher  was  prompt  and 
prominent  at  these  meetinp-s.  As  the  contribution -box 
came  round  on  the  platform*  he  felt  for  a  dollar,  almost 
vnth  the  feeling  of  a  man  dead  broke  !  When  lo  !  his 
fingers  clutched  the  pressed  roll  of  bank-bills  in  his  vest 
pocket,  and  without  a  single  look  or  thought,  put  them 
all  in. 

The  persistent  investigation  of  the  ladies  brought  out 
the  fact  that  a  wonderful  contribution  had  beeu  made  by 


LYMAN  BEECHEU. 


23 


' 


some  rich  unknown  banker  as  was  supposed.  They  little 
dreamed  that  the  money  came  thoughtlessly  from  the 
pocket  of  -d  poor,  improvident  parson.  His  wife  there- 
after was  the  keeper. of  the  treasury. 

Such  then,  in  his  greatness  and  weakness,  was  Dr. 
Lyman  Beecher,  and  such  was  his  work  m  Boston,  be- 
fore he  ca.ne  to  Lane,  a  work  and  a  man  the  like  of 
which  had  never  been  seen  in  those  days. 


■»sr 


1 


M 


^ 


I 


PABT  SECOND. 


DR.   LYMAN  BEECHER  IN   THE  WEST. 


( 


It  was  in  1839  that  I  met  Dr.  Beecher  for  the  first  time 
in  the  West.  He  was  at  a  public  hotel  on  the  Ohio  River, 
near  its  junction  with  the  Mississippi  River.  I  was  on  a 
collecting  tour  through  the  West  connected  with  my  own 
mere  utile  business  in  Boston. 

Never  was  the  country  in  a  more  disastrous  and  demor- 
alized condition,  financially,  than  at  that  period.  Dr. 
Beecher  was  then  on  a  visit  to  his  son,  Edward,  at  Gales- 
burg,  Illinois.  In  those  days  we  "  Beecher  boys"  never 
travelled  on  the  Sabbath,  not  even  on  a  river  steamboat, 
though  we  might  be  a  thousand  miles  from  home.  Nor 
did  our  teacher.  We  were  on  different  boats,  but  left 
them  on  Saturday  evening  at  the  same  place.  We  spent 
our  first  Sabbath  together  most  unexpectedly,  after  a 
separation  of  seven  years.  It  was,  indeed,  a  very  unex- 
pected but  happy  meeting,  and  we  made  the  most  of  it. 
After  a  rattling  talk  over  Hanover  Street  and  Boston 
nffairs,  my  old  pastor  plunged  into  the  discussion  of 
"  Lane  Seminary"  \yith  a  will.  The  early  pre  fessors  of 
that  institution  were  full  of  enthusiasm  for  their  work. 
They  were  always  beating  up  recruits  for  Lane,  ov  forag- 
ing the  country  for  provisions  for  its  students. 

A   NEW    RECRUIT. 

*'  Now  is  the  time  for  you  to  wheel  into  line,"  said  Dr. 
Beecher  to  m.e,  with  all  bis  characteristic  energy  and  pas- 
sion lor  winning  young  men.     "  Now  do  what  you  ought 


LYMAN   BEECHER. 


25 


( 


to  have  done  long  ago,  enter  the  ministry  and  help  ns 
fight  the  battle  here  in  the  West." 

"  Why,  sir,  I  may  not  have  a  dollar  left  when  this  fear- 
ful commercial  panic  is  over  !*'  "  Don't  c  ire  a  copper," 
said  he.     "  The  Lord  will  provide."     And  he  shouted, 


"  Jehovah  Jireii  ! 
"  But  I  have  an  invalid 


don't  forget  Abraham." 


wife  and  a  young  child,  and 
they  are  travelling  with  me  for  their  health."  "  That's 
just  the  thing !  You  won' t  have  to  go  back  to  Boston 
for  them.  I  see  God's  hand  in  it  already.  It's  all  provi- 
dential, you  now  can  go  right  into  the  work."  "  Yes, 
my  good  pastor,  but  you  forget  that  I  am  thirty-three 
years  old,  the  full  life-time  of  the  Saviour,  I'm  too  old  to 
begin  now."  "  Not  a  bit  of  it,"  he  replied,  "  you  have 
already  learned  human  natur''''  (as  he  always  pronounced 
the  word)  "  and  you  know  how  to  manage  it,  which  the 
other  students  have  to  learn  after  they  leave  the  Seminary. 
Why,  you'll  be  ahead  of  them,  you  have  been  practising 
ten  or  fifteen  years.  Now  just  come  up  to  Lane  for  six 
months,  attend  lectures,  read  up  theology  n  little,  and 
you'll  be  all  right !  Take  a  short  cut,  and  we  will  see  to 
it  that  you  have  a  place  to  work  and  enough  to  do.  Make 
a  place  for  yourself.  Will  you  come  f  "But,  Doctor, 
don't  push  so.  You  don't  see  how  I  am  situated.  There 
is  my  business  in  Boston,  all  unsettled.  I  am  expecting 
to  return  at  once,  and — then — if—"  '"  No  ifs  about  it," 
he  exclaimed,  "  don't  you  go  back  !  There  are  Lambert  & 
Slade"  (old  merchants  connected  with  his  church),  "  dear 
old  friends,  they  will  settle  up  your  business  for  you. 
Come,  begin  at  once.  Get  Alexander's  '  Evidences,'  and 
— and — read  as  you  go  around  collecting,  then  recite  tv) 
Dr.  Humphrey  of  Louisville  when  you  arrive  there  to  see 
your  family  at  lieadquarters,  and  then  come  to  Lane  and 
top  off." 

A   SUDDEN   CITANOE. 

It  was  done.     There  was  an  end  of  argument.     His 
well-known    enthusiasm    and    t  ngnetic    influence    over 


ac 


PERSONAL   REMINISCENCES   OF 


young  men  prevailed.  I  know  it  will  appear  to  others 
Quixotic  and  ill-considered,  but  outsiders  know  nothing 
of  the  importunity  of  that  old  professor  of  Lane.  I  felt 
then  and  there  in  that  strange  place  where  we  chanced  to 
meet  at  the  confluence  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivera, 
as  though  God  had  sent  his  good  evai  ^el  with  a  special 
message  to  me.  He  came  just  where  I  could  not  consult 
with  flesh  and  blood.  So  I  was  not  disobedient  to  the 
heavenly  vision,  but  followed  Avithout  questioning  and 
without  delay. 

Complying  with  the  urgent  advice  of  my  spiritual  father 
and  my  former  pastor,  I  procured  books,  read,  studied, 
aud  recited  to  Dr.  Humphrey  of  Louisville  six  months 
with  no  small  degree  of  interest.  In  the  following  March, 
forty  years  ago,  I  found  myself  a  student  at  Lane,  on  a 
"shortcut!" 

THE  PROFESSORS  AT  LANE. 

There  was  at  that  time  only  Beecher  and  Stowe  for 
instructors  at  Lane.  At  the  opening  of  the  succeeding 
fall  term  Allen  was  added.  More  whole-hearted  and 
devoutly  consecrated  men  it  would  be  diflBcult  to  And. 
After  a  six  months'  course  with  Dr.  Humphrey  and  bix 
months'  "  topping  off"  at  Lane,  I  became  convinced  of 
the  necessity  of  a  full  course,  and  entered  upon  the  regu- 
lar cuniculum.  I  pursued  uninterruptedly  my  studies 
for  the  next  three  years.  Nor  did  I  return  tc  Boston  for 
seven  years  from  the  time  I  left  it  in  1838. 

I  have  thus  dwelt  upon  my  own  case  in  order  to  give  a 
single,  practice,!  example  of  Dr.  Beecher' s  influence  over 
young  men.  It  was  not  Lane  Seminary  that  drew  me  on, 
but  Dr.  Beecher ;  for  all  the  radical  tendencies  and  pref- 
erences of  my  mind  at  that  time  would  have  led  me  to 
Oberlin. 

Dr.  Beecher  and  his  most  efficient  and  practical  wife  at 
on(!e  secured  for  me  the  position  of  a  city  missionary  at 
large  at  Cincinnati,  also  the  appointment  of  chaplain  at 
the  count/  jail  and  at  the  Commercial  Hospital.     These  I 


( 


LYMAN   BEECHER. 


27 


believe  were  the  first  appointments  of  the  kind  in  this 
city.  The  position  of  missionary  was  given  me  by  the 
Ladies'  City  Missionary  Society  of  the  Second  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  of  whom  Mrs.  Beecher  was  the  president.  I 
received  my  first  commission  to  preach  the  Gospel  from 
that  society,  and  also  my  first  ministerial  salary.  It  was 
through  Dr.  Mussey,  senior,  that  I  received  my  appoint- 
ment as  chaplain  to  the  jail  and  hospital. 

I  entered  at  once  upon  my  work  in  Cincinnati  and 
preached  in  each  institution  every  Sabbath.  For  two 
years  I  continued  my  labors  thus,  without  interruption  ; 
also  as  Bible  distributor,  employed  by  the  American 
Bible  Society.  At  the  end  of  that  time  I  resigned  these 
appointments  to  take  charge  of  the  Tabernacle  Presby- 
terian Church,  which  I  had  meantime  gathered  and  or- 
ganized on  Betts  Street,  Cincinnati ;  Rev.  Horace  Bushnell 
was  appointed  in  mj^  place,  which  position  he  holds  to 
this  day.  It  is  a  position  for  life  with  good  support,  to 
the  honor  and  praise  of  this  same  Ladies'  City  Missionary 
of  the  Second  Church.  Nor  should  it  iiere  be  overlooked 
that  Horace  Bushnell  was  one  of  the  first  students  and 
one  of  the  first  teachers  in  the  Idterary  Department  of 
Lane  from  1829  to  1832. 

To  show  the  sj  mpathetic  and  co-operative  spirit  of 
Lane  in  those  early  days,  not  only  did  Beecher,  Stowe, 
and  Allen  give  me  a  helping  hand  in  my  pioneer  labors 
in  the  city,  but  their  wives  were  also  hearty  coadjutors. 
T  shall  never  forget,  too,  the  labor  of  seminary  students 
at  the  Tabernacle,  for  I  greatly  needed  them  and  was 
greatly  cheered  by  their  brotherly  assistance,  coming  as 
they  did  from  Walnut  Hills,  more  than  two  miles  away, 
and  afoot.  Nor  can  I  fail  to  record  such  names  as  Albert 
Bushnell,  missionary  at  Sierra  Leone  ;  Campbell,  who  also 
died  in  Africa;  Chandler,  Mussey,  Walton,  Pyle,  Hicks, 
and  others  of  sainted  memories,  true  yoke-fellows,  noble 
men  as  were  ever  gathered  within  the  walls  of  a  theological 
sominnry. 


28 


PERSONAL   KEMINISCENCES  OF 


I  have  already  referred  to  the  change  in  ray  plans,  and 
those  of  the  Doctor  at  the  close  of  my  "  short  cut "  tenn 
of  study.  This  "short  cut"  had  brought  me  into  a 
theological  wilderness,  and  I  could  not  seo  my  way  out. 


A   THEOLOGICAL   WILPERNESS. 

Dr.  Beecher  and  myself  now  held  another  consultation. 
"  You're  in  for  it,"  said  he.  "  Well,  I  think  I  am,  and  I 
can't  see  my  way  out,"  I  replied.  "  All  right.  You  have 
got  all  you  can  do,  and  you  are  doing  it.  well.  You  have 
a  permanent  situation  and  a  fair  support.  /  told  you  so  ! 
Now  just  hold  on  contented.  Let  up  a  little  in  your  hard 
study,  join  the  grand  new  class  that' s  coming  in,  and  go 
for  a  three  years'  course.  We're  going  to  have  a  glorious 
time  here  the  next  three  years.  Come,  join  us.  The 
Lord  will  provide."  It  was  done.  1  joined  that  noble 
band  of  thirty-eight  wuicli  composed  the  class  of  '40-43. 
And  while  1  worked  hard  for  my  own  support  and  my 
invalid  family,  without  one  dollar  from  any  board  or  in- 
stitution, I  studied  hard  11  all  departments  with  my  class, 
and  with  jirivate  teachers  in  Greek,  German,  and  musJc. 
I  did  not  lose  more  than  three  lessons  in  Hebrew  in  three 
years.  With  all  this  I  kept  up  city  work  and  country 
preaching,  gave  temperance  and  anti-slavery  lectures, 
labors  at  that  time  most  intensely  exciting,  and  1  have 
never  regretted  the  three  last  years,  especially  the  last 
one,  though  they  cost  much  travel  of  foot  and  no  less 
travail  of  soul. 

For  two  and  a  half  years  I  preached  twice  a  week 
without  a  license  from  Presbytery,  but  with  its  entire  ap- 
proval, footing  it  to  the  city  nearly  every  dny  in  the 
week.  I  was  also  busy  planting,  digging,  and  market* 
ing  a  hundred  bushels  of  potatoes.  Removing  my 
lamily  to  the  west  end  of  Cincinnati,  I  rode  on  horseback 
three  miles  to  my  daily  recitations.  The  neW  Tabernacle 
church  enterprise  also  was  all  this  time  on  my  hands. 


J<; 


LYMAX   BEECHER. 


30 


SEMITfAEY   LIFE. 

At  the  opening  of  the  term  of  1840  we  had  three  pro- 
fessors, all  from  New  England.  All  honor,  most  tender 
and  reverent,  to  their  memory.  They  were  poor,  the  in- 
stitution was  poor,  and  we  were  oil  poor,  but  we  were  true 
and  loyal  to  the  core.  We  were  as  Presbyterians,  "  true 
blue,  but  not  too  blue," 

Beecher,  Stowe,  and  Allen  were  each  as  unlike  the 
other  as  could  well  be  imagined,  yet- they  were  a  threefold 
cord  that  was  never  brol:en.  Their  personal  peculiarities 
were  specially  adapted  to  the  worii  of  each.  Allen, was 
the  most  lovable,  Beecher  the  most  inspiring,  and  Stowe 
was  appreciated  the  more  we  knew  him,  especially  the 
third  year. 

Dr.  Beecher  was  never  weaned  from  New  England  and 
Boston,  although  here  he  was  on  the  great  battle-field 
which  his  younger  days  had  pictured  with  heroic  deliglit 
as  the  X)lace  of  all  others  for  a  great  cai)tain. 

Sitting  at  my  own  fireside  one  day  with  a  visitor  from 
Boston,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Hanover  Street  Church, 
Dr.  Beecher  came  in.  The  conversation  soon  turned  to 
scenes  of  other  days.  "  Well,  Doctor,"  said  the  visitor, 
"  I  suppose  you  often  look  back  to  the  good  times 
when  you  were  with  us  in  Boston."  "  No,  I  don't,"  he 
quickly  replied,  with  that  sharp,  incisive  tone  which  was 
peculiar  to  him  when  touched  in  a  sore  or  tender  spot. 
'''Twouldn't  do!  It  would  entirely  unfit  me  for  my 
present  duties,  I  have  deferred  all  that  until  I  get  to 
heaven,  "here  I  shall  meet  my  old  comrades,  and  then 
we  will  have  a  good  time,  sure." 


DR.    BEECHER   AS   A   PASTOR. 

His  position  as  pastor  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  of  this  city  was  never  of  great  inspimtion  to  him, 
nor  fully  satisfactory.  This  probably  arose,  in  part,  from 
the  contrasting  and  divided  relations  which  he  sustained 


30 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES  OP 


,.._i| 


to  the  cliurcli  and  the  seminary.  He  could  not  v/ork 
easily  in  double  harness.  It  was  with  him  as  with  Paul. 
"This  one  t7dng  I  do."  And  then  the  habits,  mannera, 
and  esprit  de  cceur  of  the  church  were  so  different  from  his 
own  temperament,  and  so  different  from  his  former  pas- 
toral relations,  that  it  was  but  natural  that  he  would  feel 
the  contrast  sharply.  Beside,  he  sought  radical  changes 
w^hich  resulted  in  serious  disappointment.  His  first 
effort  was  to  secure  a  change  in  the  session  by  a  flanking 
movement  of  military  device.  But  he  was  no  tactician, 
and  he  was  a  coward  wlien  he  was  called  to  a  square, 
stand-up  fight  with  his  friends.  He  was  no  match  for 
them  in  sharp  i^ractice.  He  had  six  elders  in  his  session 
who  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  entered  with  spirit  into 
his  revival  views  and  his  impetuous  plans  of  churcl^  work. 
Dr.  Beecher,  therefore,  secured  the  election  of  six  addi- 
tional elders,  young  men,  full  of  youthful  enterprise,  but, 
as  he  told  me  with  an  air  of  sadness  and  despair,  "  It  was 
no  go ;  I  was  worse  off  Mian  before,  for,  like  Pharaoh's 
kine,  the  six  lean  ones  swallowed  up  the  six  fat  ones."  In 
Boston  he  did  not  have  to  carj-y  the  church,  the  church 
carried  him.  He  did  not  have  to  plan  or  manage  for  its 
usefulness ;  it  rather  preceded  him,  and  j^repared  the 
way  for  the  master-mover  of  the  field  to  cut  a  clean  swath 
ol'  giant  width,  swiftness  and  x>ower. 

It  has  seemed  to  me,  that  it  would  have  been  better  both 
for  Dr.  Beecher  and  the  Second  Cliurch  had  he  never 
assumed  its  pastorate.  He  could  not  be  the  preacher 
here  which  he  was  in  New  England.  In  some  way  he  was 
shorn  of  his  power.  In  some  respects  this  failure  was  a 
benefit,  for  it  threw  him  back  with  all  the  more  intensity 
ui)on  his  work  in  connection  with  the  seminary.  This 
personal  opinion  is  freely  expressed  with  the  most  kindly 
and  brotherly  regards  for  the  church  as  well  as  for  the 
pastor.  In  it  I  do  not  overlook  the  fact  that  Dr.  Beecher 
accomplished  a  great  and  good  work  for  the  Second 
Church.     The  times  were  troublous  and  exciting.    He 


LYxMAN   BEECHER. 


31 


carried  his  people  through  a  perilous  period  of  formality 
and  theological  strife.  By  those  to  whom  I  bow  with  def- 
erence, it  is  claimed  that  the  Second  Church  owes  its  sal- 
vation to  Dr.  Beecher.  I  rejoice  to  know  that  the  church 
holds  his  memory  embalmed  with  most  affectionate 
regard. 

THE    CLASS  OF  '43. 

The  class  of  '40-' 43  was  the  largest  which  ever  gradu- 
ated at  Lane  ;  and,  if  I  may  be  pardoned,  it  was  the  best, 
and  in  some  respects  the  most  remarkable.  It  was  a  unit, 
a  compact  whole,  intensely  practical,  revival  and  mission- 
ary in  its  spirit.  The  Doctor  used  to  aay  of  one  class 
which  seceded  before  its  graduation,  that  it  aggregated 
more  talent  and  brains  than  could  be  found  congregated 
in  any  class  of  theologues  in  the  land. 

But  the  class  of  '43  had  more  practical  good  sense,  and 
a  larwr  heart  for  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  Its  incoming 
with  the  advent  of  Professor  Allen  gave  a  wonderful  im- 
pulse of  inspiration,  and  of  new  hopes  for  the  future  of 
the  institution.  Dr.  Beecher  had  then  somewhat  recov- 
ered from  the  influences  ^unfortunately  connected  with 
Lane  in  its  earlier  days,  growing  out  of  the  slavery  ques- 
tion ;  also  from  the  divisions  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
and  General  Assembly,  and  from  the  effects  of  his  own 
trials  for  heresy  in  the  church  courts. 

IDIOSYNCRASIES   OF   DR.    BEECHER. 

Personally,  intellectually,  and  spiritually,  Dr.  Beecher 
was  sui  generis.  He  scarcely  weighed  three  pounds 
when  born,  and  was  so  feeble  in  vitality  as  to  lead  his 
deceased  mother's  sister,  vvho  took  charge  of  the  family, 
to  say,  "he  is  hardly  worth  trying  to  raise."  All 
thi^ugh  his  life  his  health  was  far  from  being  robust  or 
resilient,  for  dyspepsia  was  his  constant  enemy.  Yet  he 
battled  manfully  and  persistently  with  his  ailments  and 
endured  hardships  of  self -discipline  that  he  might  have 
strength  for  work.   He  seldom  wore  an  overcoat  or  gloves 


32 


PERSONAL   REMINISCENCES   OF 


or  carried  an  umbrella,  except  in  extreme  cases.  It  was 
his  love  of  work  and  play,  intense  and  earnest,  that  saved 
him.  His  large  and  most  peculiar  family,  especially  the 
boys,  gave  him  great  aid  and  such  as  he  needed. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  his  absent-mindedness.  This 
showed  itself  in  amusing  ways.  When  on  horseback  his 
mind  was  so  absorbed  in  some  object  ahead,  that  it  caused 
an  earnest,  forward  leaning  of  his  body,  as  if  intent  on 
reaching  the  end  of  his  ride  in  advance  of  his  horse. 
When  he  reached  the  terminus,  he  would  sometimes  leavo 
his  horse  to  take  care  of  itself  as  he  leaped  from  the  sad- 
dle and  pushed  for  the  pulpit.  Indeed,  I  have  known 
him  to  spring  from  the  carriage  when  he  had  arrived  at 
the  church  door,  leaving  his  wife  as  well  as  his  horse 
Avithout  a  thought.  He  would  rush  into  the  church,  and 
then,  when  near  the  pulpit,  he  would  rush  back  again, 
seeming  to  remember  that  he  had  forgotten  something 
and  hastened  to  lind  out  what  it  was. 


— I 


SI 


THE   LOST   IIOKSK. 

He  once  rode  on  horseback  to  New  Carlisle,  near 
Springfield,  Ohio,  some  seventy-five  or  eighty  miles,  to 
attend  a  camp-meeting.  Those  were  days  of  Presby- 
terian camp-meetings.  In  riding  into  the  grove  he  left 
his  horse  in  an  out-of-the-way  hollow.  He  fastened  him 
with  the  bridle  to  a  low  limb  of  a  tree  before  dismount- 
ing. He  then  pushed  for  headquarters,  and  went  to  work 
without  another  thought  of  his  horse  until  he  was  wanted 
for  a  return  home,  some  two  days  after. 

No  one  knew  how  Dr.  Beecher  came,  and  no  one  had 
cared  for  the  poor  horse.  Another  horse  had  to  be  pro- 
vided. His  own  was  finally  found  and  kept  till  it  recov- 
ered strength  from  its  two  "fast  days."  It  was  not  an 
act  of  intentional  cruelty  to  animals,  but  simply  the  result 
of  his  habitual  absent-mindedness.  The  good  man  was 
never  entirely  safe  without  an  attendant  who  knew  him 
well. 


LYMAN   BEECHER. 


33 


'I) 


1 


1 


THE  MISSING  MONET. 

A  great  convention  of  churches  was  once  called  to  con- 
fer on  evangelical  work  for  the  West  at  the  Second  Church 
of  Cincinnati,  of  which  he  was  then  pastor.  In  this  con- 
vention he  expected  to  take  a  prominent  part.  His  good 
wife  felt  that  he  must  have  a  new  suit  of  clothes,  so  she 
went  with  him  to  Luken's  on  Main  Street,  near  the  present 
Court  House,  and  had  him  measured.  The  contract  was  lio 
be  filled  the  day  before  the  convention.  The  price  was 
$25.  On  the  day  named  Mrs.  Beecher  called  for  the  new 
suit.  It  was  not  ready,  but  would  be  ready  the  next 
morning  in  season  for  the  opening  of  ^he  convention.  As 
the  Doctor  started  for  the  city  in  the  morning,  his  wife 
gave  him  the  money,  with  strict  injunctions  to  call  for  his 
clothes  on  his  way  down  to  meeting  and  pay  for  them 
and  put  them  on.  He  must  "  be  "^are  not  to  forget,"  as 
those  he  had  on  were  quite  seedy,  and  he  would  not  be 
presentable  on  the  platform  in  such  a  rusty  attire. 

It  was  an  all- day  meeting.  Mrs.  Beecher  did  not  see 
him  again  until  night.  When  evening  came,  and  he  re- 
turned, behold,  he  was  still  wearing  his  old  clothes,  for  he 
had  forgotten  all  about  the  new  ones.  His  wife  gently 
chided  him  for  his  remistmess  and  asked  for  the  $25,  saying, 
"I'll  go  down  early  in  the  morning  and  ge.  them,  and  see 
that  you  have  them  on  before  you  go  to  the  convention. 
Just  give  me  the  money."  Money  !  He  knew  nothing 
about  the  money.  Search  was  made  all  over  and  through 
him  wherever  money  could  be  hidden,  but  no  money 
could  be  found.  "  Now,  husband,"  with  no  little  tremor 
of  anxiety,  '"'^  what  Tiwae  you  done  witlh  that  money  f 
It  was  a  great  sum  in  those  days  for  a  Lane  Seminary 
professor's  wife  to  have.  The  Doctor  was  innocent  as  a 
lamb.  He  had  no  recollection,  he  said,  of  having  had  any 
money.  And  there  they  stood;  both  were  alike  con- 
founded. 

No  new  clothes  and  no  money,  what  could  be  done  ? 


34 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES  OF 


i 


A  great  western  convention  of  ministers  and  laymen  in 
session  at  his  own  church,  and  he  in  seedy  i^rments  ! 
Luken  trusted  them  for  the  new  suit,  but  the  raoney  was 
gone.  A  long  search  and  much  inquiry  brouglit  to  light 
the  fact  that  a  collection  had  been  taken  in  the  conven- 
tion, and  Dr.  Beecher  finding  something  in  his  vest  pocket 
as  the  box  passed  him  put  it  in  without  a  moment's 
thought  of  how  much  it  was  or  how  it  came  there  !  It 
had  gone  on  its  errand  of  love  and  mercy  like  tlie  hundred 
dollars  to  Bissell  and  his  stages.     It  never  mor(3  '"»turned. 

THE  REPEATED  LECTURE. 

On  one  occasion  Dr.  Beecher  came  into  our  class-room 
with  the  same  lecture  which  he  had  delivered  the  previ- 
ous day.  It  was  some  time  after  he  commenced  its  deliv- 
ery before  any  of  the  class  could  muster  courage  to  re- 
mind him  of  his  mistake.  When  he  was  at  last  spoken 
to  he  stopped  suddenly,  took  off  his  glasses,  tv,rirled  them 
in  his  peculiar  way,  silently,  and  then,  with  a  queer  twin- 
kle in  his  eye,  said,  "  Yes,  yes,  I  know  it,  but  as  you 
paid  such  poor  attention  to  it  before,  and  as  I  thought  it 
was  so  good  a  lecture,  I  am  in  hopes  it  will  do  you  good 
to  hear  it  over  again."  On  he  went  with  its  delivery 
with  more  than  usual  enthusiasm. 

Among  his  best  thoughts  were  those  which  (;ame  on  the 
spur  of  the  moment,  in  the  heat  of  a  free  debate  after 
the  lecture  was  finished.  I  think  one  of  the  highest 
qualifications  of  Lyman  Beeclier  as  a  preaclier  was  his 
matchless  power  in  answering  the  objections  of  a  supposed 
opponent.  The  freedom  he  gave  to  the  class  to  ask  ques- 
tions or  to  state  objections,  drew  from  him  a  marvellous 
amount  of  information  treasured  in  his  heart  and  mind 
from  experience,  observation,  and  study.  The  richest 
mines  of  wisdom  and  of  love  were  thus  opened  to  us  his 
students  and  made  applicable  to  many  practical  purposes. 
As  I  have  already  said.  Dr.  Beecher  had  no  dovetailed, 
invulnerable  system  of  theology,  and  the  class  would  at 


fl' 


LYMAN  3EECHER. 


35 


i  I  \ 


imj 


times  drive  him  into  a  comer,  and  the  end  would  some- 
times be  a  harmless  and  ludicrous  comedy. 

CAUGHT  m  A   SNAKE. 

At  the  close  of  his  usual  lecture  one  day  we  "  went  into 
him"  with  a  will.  Of  course  we  were  entirely  respectful 
and  loving,  if  a  little  audacious.  Leading  questions  and 
well-put  difficulties  brought  our  teacher  with  unguarded 
concessions  iaio  a  snare.  He  soon  became  inextricably  en- 
tangled in  a  web  of  metaphysical  subtleties.  He  was 
adroitly  and  completely  cornered.  Standing  at  bay  for  a 
moment  or  two  in  silence,  as  if  cogitating  an  answer,  every 
one  of  the  class  on  tip-toe  with  excitement  to  see  which 
way  our  good  professor  would  jump,  he  suddenly  ex- 
claimed ;vith  an  air  of  ludicrous  assurance,  "  Young  gen- 
tlemen,  I  too  would  ask  you  one  question.  What  would 
have  become  of  Elijah  if  the  Lord  had  happened  to  drop 
him  just  before  he'd  got  him  safely  into  heaven  ?" 

The  question  had  not  the  slightest  connection  with  the 
subject  under  discussion.  But  it  was  pr.t  so  suddenly 
and  put  so  sharply,  that  we  in  turn  were  for  the  moment 
taken  by  surprise  and  utterly  confounded.  The  peculiar 
intonation  of  his  voice  and  the  appearance  of  reality  in 
his  manner  of  putting  the  question  to  us  actiiallv  set  us 
a  wondering  what  would  become  of  Elijah  if  there  had 
been  a  slip  !  We  seemed  to  be  in  a  kind  of  stupid  horror 
watrhmg  the  final  catastrophe  when  the  aged  prophet 
should  reach  the  ground.  Before  a  word  could  be  said 
the  Doctor  had  snatched  his  hat  and  disappeared. 

THE  Dutchman's  chase. 
While  at  work  in  his  garden  with  a  hoe  one  day,  in 
company  with  a  stolid  Dutchman-who  was  a  big  boy  of 
all  work  in  the  family-the  Doctor  suddenly  gave  his  hoe 
a  tremendous  fling,  and  exclaimed,  "Now  Fve  got  it 
I  ve  got  It  now,  sure  !"  He  started  upon  the  run  for  the 
house,  with  the  alarmed  Dutchman  at  his  heels.    The 


36 


PERSONAL  RESrTINISCENCES  OP 


Doctor  plunged  for  the  end  door  next  to  the  garden,  which 
opened  into  his  study,  but  it  was  fastened  inside.  He 
then  sprang  for  the  frf  nt  door.  That  also  was  fastened. 
He  turned  and  went  through  the  l^ack  porch  and  through 
the  front  hall,  with  the  "  flying  Dutchman"  puflSng  close 
behind  him.  The  delighted  philo^^opher  shouting  his 
"  Eureka,"  entered  his  study  by  the  ntudy  door  from  the 
hall,  dropped  down  into  that  old,  green  chair  which  to 
this  day  stands  in  an  adjoining  room,  snatched  up  a  quill 
and  began  to  scribble.  The  inquisitive  Teuton  stood 
peering  over  his  shoulder  to  see  what  curious  or  precious 
thing  it  was  which  the  Doctor  was  so  overjoyed  to  find  ! 
Se  had  found  an  idea^  and  had  hastened  thus  to  put  it 
on  paper  before  it  should  escape  his  treacherous  memory. 
While  digging  the  earth  with  his  hoe,  a  rift  had  opened 
in  the  metaphysical  1  cloud  which  had  enveloped  him. 
Suddenly  a  truth  was  revealed,  which  made  him  shout, 
"I've  got  it,  I've  got  it !"  and  gave  speed  to  his  steps  as 
he  ran  to  make  it  fast  on  paper. 


I 


'^1^ 


VEHEMENT  DECLAMATION. 

The  Doctor  was  always  impatient  of  indifference  or 
tpmeness.  in  our  speaking  on  exhibition  or  recitation 
da  /s.  "  Have  something  to  say,  and  say  it  as  though 
you  meant  it ;  I  would  rather  have  you  tear  your  subject 
all  to  pieces  with  passion  than  to  treat  it  so  gingeriy. 
Fire  up  !  fire  up  !  until  you  get  all  ablaze  !"  He  prac- 
tised what  he  taught. 

Once  on  a  time  when  the  subject  of  temperance  was 
"  all  ablaze"  in  this  community,  an  anti-temperance 
meeting  was  called  at  the  old  Court  House,  and  the  stu- 
dents went  down  to  see  and  hear.  Dr.  Beecher  was  there 
to  see  also.  He  sat  back  in  the  audience  watching  the 
proceedings  with  the  eagerness  of  a  hound  waiting  for  its 
prey. 

One  of  the  speakers  cited  Massachusetts  as  having  re- 
treated from  its  former  position  on  the  subject  of  temper- 


^YMAX  BEECHER. 


37 


le 

L- 

•e 

le 
bs 

3- 

r- 


ance,  and  as  having  "let  go"  from  some  of  its  funda- 
mental principles. 

The  old  hero  of  the  temperance  battlefield  could  hold 
in  his  war-horse  no  longer.  Starting  for  the  platform 
almost  upon  the  run,  he  turned  not  right  or  lef*^  ^o  go  up 
the  side  steps,  but  putting  his  hands  on  the  et^^-  ^f  the 
platform  he  leaped  upon  it  with  the  agility  of  an  athlote, 
and  landed  in  the  midst  of  a  crowd  of  distillers,  saloon- 
keepers, and  topers.  Withoiit  a  word  of  apology  he 
shouted,  "  Old  Massachusetts  '  let  go  ! '  old  Massachusetts 
'  let  go  ! '  I  tell  you  she  has  only  let  go  to  spit  on  her 
hands  r  And  then  he  poured  forth  a  tremendous  tem- 
pest of  thunder  and  lightning,  roaring,  blazing,  scorching, 
^rackling  and  burning,  hurling  hot  thunderbolts  crash- 
ing through  and  throiigh  all  the  mighty  breastworks 
which  the  liquor  army  had  thrown  up  for  the  defence  of 
their  business. 

We,  the  students,  were  greatly  excited.  We  stamped 
and  clapped  and  cheered  our  valiant  captain  all  the 
while,  as  he  was  carrying  the  fort  of  the  enemy  in  glori- 
ous triumph.  At  the  close  of  his  speech  the  meeting 
closed,  and  closed  without  a  >vord  in  reply.  Keply  ! 
They  might  as  well  have  replied  to  a  tornado.  And  as  we 
returned  we  went  ahoutiiig  home  with  triumphant  song, 
"  Glorious  eld  Lane  on  the  Hill." 

A  MISSIONARY  SPEECH. 

Br.  Beecher  was  one  of  the  earliest,  most  faithful,  en- 
thusiastic,  and  unceasing  friends  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  Mis- 
sions. I  attended  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Board  in  the 
old  Broadway  Tabernacle,  I>iew  York  City,  about  the 
year  1845.  Dr.  Beecher  was  present ;  he  always  expected 
to  speak,  I  think,  at  its  annual  meetings,  and  the  people 
expected  him  no  less. 

He  had  corie  from  the  *'  Par  West,"  as  it  was  then 
called.  He  was  a  little  seedy  outside,  perhaps,  but  bright 
as  a  new  dollar  within.     For  some  reason,  known  only  to 


88 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES   OF 


the  managers  of  the  meeting,  he  was  pushed  aside,  and 
another  speaker  substituted  without  consultation  or 
apology.  The  substitute  in  his  opening  began  with  an 
expression  of  regret  that,  owing  to  the  infirmities  of  age 
or  fatigue  of  ti-avel,  the  celebrated  Dr.  Beecher  was  ex- 
cused, and  he,  the  speaker,  was  called  "  most  unexpect- 
edly and  regretfully"  to  take  his  place.  Dr.  Beecher 
was  on  the  platform,  wholly  ignorant  of  this  change  of 
programme.  He  looked  on  with  amazement,  and  then 
sprang  to  his  feet  and  cried  out,  "  Mr.  Moderator,  Mr. 
Moderator !  there  is  some  mistake  here.  Infirmity ! 
Why,  sir,  I  was  never  better  in  my  life.  I  don' t  under- 
stand it,  sir!" 

There  stood  the  substitute  in  silence,  as  though  he  had 
been  struck  and  paralyzed.  The  audience,  too,  were  full 
of  anxious  surprise.  Before  any  one  could  recover  from 
the  sudden  interruption  or  liave  courage  to  speak  in  ex- 
planation. Dr.  Beecher  was  oif  at  full  speed.  He  electri- 
fied the  audience  with  u  missionary  speech  such  as  had 
seldom  been  heard  even  on  such  an  occasion.  It  was 
spontaneous,  and  simply  grand  and  magnificent.  It  was 
full  of  fire,  impulse,  and  Beecherism.  The  unfortunate 
substitute,  meantime,  had  retired  to  a  back  seat,  feeling 
"  regrets"  for  his  own  unfortunate  venture  quite  as  poig- 
nant, evidently,  as  those  which  he  had  expressed  for  Dr. 
Beecher' 3  supposed  "  infirmities"  of  age. 

CARE   FOR  r^TUDENTS. 

Our  president  and  professor  always  manifested  a  royal 
pride  in  the  students  of  the  seminary,  and  this  without 
partiality  ;  for  his  interest  in  our  behalf  was  of  the  most 
fatherly  character.  These  traits  were  also  characteristic 
of  the  faculty  and  their  wives.  Poor  students  we  were, 
most  of  us,  and  tlie  hard  work  which  kept  the  board  bill 
of  the  "  commons"  table  nt  eijhty -seven  and  a  half  cents 
per  week,  and  good  at  that,  was  cheerfully  shared  by  the 
faculty.    They  went  with  the  students  into  the  surround- 


LYMAN   BEECHER. 


39 


ing  country  in  a  truck  wagon,  soliciting  donations  from 
the  farmers  for  the  students'  table.  And  even  this  small 
sum  for  board  was  more  than  some  of  them  could  afford, 
and  therefore  they  boarded  themselves  at  the  cost  of 
forty-live  or  fifty  cents  i)er  week,  and  earned  the  money 
by  sawing  wood,  keeping  stable,  and  other  chores  for  the 
neighbors,  rather  than  call  on  the  Education  Society. 
This,  to  my  personal  knowledge,  was  true  of  the  late  Dr. 
Albert  Bushnell,  the  honored  missionary  of  African  mem-  v 
ory,  my  classmate  and  kinsman. 

THE  VIOLIN. 

Dr.  Beecher  was  as  fond  of  innocent  diversions  as  of 
hard  work  and  preaching.  His  violin  was  a  source  of 
relief  ancl  recuperation  to  the  very  close  of  his  life. 

A  gentleman,  an  entire  stranger,  called  upon  Dr« 
Beecher  in  his  last  days,  while  residing  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
to  make  his  acquaintance.  Before  leaving  he  ventured 
to  suggest  to  him  that  he  had  often  neard  of  his  skill  in 
the  use  of  the  violin,  and  asked  him  if  he  would  be  pleased 
to  give  him  a  specimen  of  playing.  The  violin  was  sent 
for,  and  the  stranger  was  entertained  by  a  stirring  and 
skilful  ptrformance,  which  showed  the  ability  of  the  aged 
musician  in  the  use  oi  his  favorite  instrument.  At  family 
worship  in  the  evening,  when  h:'.s  inind  was  tired,  jaded, 
and  uncontrollable  from  the  mighty  current  of  the  day's 
thoughts  and  labors,  he  would,  after  fruitless  efforts  at 
proper  concentration  for  worship,  call  for  his  violin. 
And  David,  the  sweet  singer  of  Israel,  never  scattered  the 
evil  spirits,  or  the  blues  that  come  from  over-study,  more 
suroly  than  did  Dr.  Beecher. 

HEECIIEU'S   ITANDKEUCHIEF8. 

Lyman  Beecher  was  not  spoiled  in  the  making,  either  at 
school  or  college.  He  was  always  himself,  pure  and  sim- 
ple, without  feeling  the  restraint  of  company  or  etiquette 
anywhere. 


r. 


i\ 


40 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES  OF 


Mrs.  Beecher  would  sometimes  provide  her  husband 
with  two  handkerchiefs  for  his  pocket.  One  was  a  red 
bandana  of  large  dimensions  for  the  protection  of  his 
neck  and  for  ordinary  service.  The  other  was  a  white 
cambric  handkerchief  intended  for  public  duty.  But  he 
never  could  remember  to  keep  them  in  different  pockets 
or  for  different  uses.  So,  in  the  heat  and  momentum  of 
his  discourse,  one  would  come  out,  ar  i  then  the  other  ; 
now  the  delicate  white  linen  one,  now  the  big  red  ban- 
dana !  Then  both  would  be  lying  on  the  pulpit  cushion, 
one  on  each  side  of  his  notes,  or  ViUd  i  *he  lid  of  the  Bible. 
He  brought  out  for  use  first  the  ori«j,  and  then  the  other. 
He  took  the  white,  the  red  and  blew,  much  to  the  discom- 
fort of  Mrs.  Beecher  and  the  amusement  of  his  hearers. 
This  went  on  until,  in  the  fervor  of  his  emotions  and  the 
pungency  of  his  thoughts,  both  speaker  and  hearers  were 
carried  above  all  surroundings,  quite  beyond  the  possi- 
bility of  any  injurious  distraction  on  account  of  any  of 
his  oddities.  These  idiosyncrasies  were  harmless,  his 
whole  bearing  being  so  characteristic,  natural,  and  earnest. 

ins   SPECTACLES. 

Dr.  Beecher  was  so  forgetful,  it  was  ner  .  iiry  to  have 
him  supplied  with  two  or  three  pairs  of  s  •  n*  J.es,  or  he 
would  find  himself  without  any.  On  une  <  i'^'  sion  the 
discussions  of  Presbytery  were  absorbingly  aniii.a*;ed.  In- 
stead of  twitching  his  steel-bowed  glasses  from  his  nose 
and  twirling  them  between  his  thumb  and  forefinger,  as 
was  his  wont,  he  threw  them  back  upon  his  head  and 
quite  too  far  over.  Soon  he  wanted  them  and  reached  up 
his  hand  to  bring  them  down  to  their  xiroper  position. 
Failing  to  reach  them  he  supposed  that  lie  had  put  them 
in  his  pocket.  So,  he  jerked  out  another  pair  and  put 
them  in  proper  place.  And  there  he  stood,  doubly  pre- 
pared for  duty,  with  two  pairs  of  spectacles  on  his  head, 
eyes  in  front,  and  eyes  in  the  back  of  his  head.  One  of 
the  members  of  Presbytery  shouted,  "  Now,  look  out, 


) 


LYMAN   BEECHER 


41 


) 


brethren,  for  now  Dr.  Beecher  is  sharp  hotJi  ways  for  an 
argument."  , 

GOOD-NATUREDNESS. 

Dr.  Beecher  never  took  notice  of  a  joke,  much  less  did 
he  ever  show  resentment.  He  used  to  say  to  the  stu- 
dents, "  Never  wash  yourselves  in  a  mud-puddle." 

As  for  personal  controversy,  he  had  no  taste  for  it  what- 
ever, although  he  had  the  reputation  of  a  great  polemic. 
He  said  that  he  was  cured  of  all  love  for  contention  and 
strife  many  years  before  on  this  wise.  Returning  from  a 
V  alk  in  tlo  suburbs  of  the  town  with  text-books  under 
his  arm,  he  saw  an  animal  creeping  slowly  across  the  road 
just  ahead  of  him.  He  thoughtlessly  went  for  the  ani- 
mal, and  let  drive  at  him  a  whole  body  of  divinity.  In 
reply  to  this  volume,  the  skunk— for  such  it  proved  to  be— 
let  fly  at  him  a  shower  of  that  aroma  which  is  his  own 
peculiar  weapon  of  defence.  It  could  hardly  be  regarded 
"  the  odor  of  sanctity."  Dr.  Beecher  remarked  that  he 
got  the  worst  of  it  in  that  controversy.  It  was  an  en- 
counter which  taught  him  a  lesson  for  life. 

Dr.  Beecher  had  no  personal  animosities  to  sour  him. 
He  nursed  no  ill-will  toward  any  one,  and  carried  no 
burden  of  weapons  for  secret  attack  or  for  defence.  He 
always  was  in  light  marching  order,  and  marched  on  the 
double-quick  !  He  always  cut  corners  and  crossed  lots, 
sometimes  very  unwisely,  in  order  to  reach  his  antago- 
nist, or  his  post  of  duty,  most  expeditiously.  He  never 
wasted  time,  strength,  or  ammunition  in  beating  around 
the  bush. 

IN  SEARCH  OF  A   WIFE. 

After  the  death  of  his  second  wife  at  Lane  Seminary, 
he  went  to  Nev^  England  in  search  of  another.  Never 
wfis  Providence  more  manifest  than  in  this  important 
matter.  His  attention  was  directed  to  a  Mrs.  Jackson,  who 
was  keeping  a  kind  of  ministerial  boardiiig-liouse  in  Bos- 
ton, not  a  full  square  from  where  I  was  then  boarding. 


42 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES  OP 


>      i9 


She  was  formerly  a  member  of  Bowdoin  Street  Churcli 
when  Dr.  Beecher  w^s  its  pastor,  and  therefore  not  an 
entire  stranger  to  him. 

To  her  house  he  soon  made  his  way,  and,  as  the  story 
goes  in  Boston,  and  I  never  heard  it  called  in  question, 
asked  of  hei  a  private  conference,  in  which  he  proposed 
marriage  with  almost  desperate  earnestness,  and  with  not 
a  little  bluntness. 

Mrs.  Jackson  was  pre-eminently  a  practical  business 
woman,  and  no  less  a  Christian  lady.  But  now  she  was 
taken  by  surprise,  and  could  only  reply,  "  Doctor,  this 
is  wholly  unexpected.  I  can  give  you  no  answer  at  pres- 
ent. It  is  a  very  serious  question.  I  will  think  of  it, 
and  make  it  a  subject  of  prayer,  and—"  "  Yes,  yes, 
all  right,"  said  Doctor  Beecher.  "  It  ought  to  be  made  a 
subject  of  prayer.  Let  us  pray  over  it  now  !"  So  down 
went  the  Doctor  on  his  knees  before  the  good  Father  in 
Heaven,  and  pleaded  his  own  cause  as  few  could  plead 
in  prayer ;  and  he  pleaded  not  in  vain  ! 

A  more  efficient  or  more  suitable  wife  for  a  helpmeet 
than  was  Mrs.  Jackson,  no  man  ever  needed  or  received. 
She  was  to  be  the  mother  of  a  large  family  of  most 
peculiar  and  indejjendent  boys  and  girls,  or  rather  young 
men  and  maidens. 

But  she  was  equal  to  the  occasion.  And  not  only 
those  children  and  their  father,  but  Lane  Seminary  and 
the  Church  of  Christ,  ought  to  give  God  thanks  for  his 
special  guidaxice  in  the  time  of  Dr.  Beecher' s  great  need. 
She  was  a  rare  v.-^oman,  an  elect  lady  of  God's  choosing. 

Dr.  Beecher  was  no  Pharisee,  no  pietist,  no  ascetic, 
yet  he  was  pre-eminently  pious,  prayerful,  and  submissive 
to  the  providence  of  God.  "He  walked  with  God  in  a 
peculiar  spirit  of  tenderness,  independence  and  power. 
He  rendered  God  service  with  a  loyalty  of  devotion  and 
a  royalty  of  munificent  consecration  almost  without  a 
parallel !     It  was  with  a  single  eye  and  a  whole  heart ! 

His  public  prayers  were  unapproachable  in  their  direct 


LYMAN   BEECHER. 


43 


ness,  terseness,  comprehensiveness,  importunity  and  as- 
surance. There  was  never  the  slightest  savor  of  cant  or 
insincerity  in  any  of  his  devotions,  public  or  private. 
The  following  incident  illustrates  that  fact. 

UPSET  IN  THE   DARK. 

In  coming  up  from  the  city  one  dark  night,  after  even- 
ing service,  with  Mr,«  Beecher  and  Mrs.  Stowe  with  him  in 
the  carriage,  he  allowed  his  horse  to  go  too  near  the  edge 
of  a  high  embankment.  Just  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  as  we 
then  came  out  of  Butcher's  Valley  at  the  right.  The  car- 
riage was  upset  and  rolled  over  and  over  with  its  precious 
trio  some  fifteen  feet  to  the  foot  of  the  bank. 

On  finding  themselves  but  little  hurt,  the  pious  ladies 
united  at  once  in  thanks  to  the  Lord  for  their  providen- 
tial deliverance. . 

It  v/as  too  dark  to  see  each  other  readily,  or  to  deter- 
mine where  they  were  exactly,  but  the  bewildered  Doc- 
tor found  himse]*  in  a  pitiful  plight.  Having  shaken 
himself  from  the  dust  and  dirt  in  which  he  had  rolled, 
and  taking  cognizance  of  sundry  bruises  received,  he 
called  out  to  his  companions,  whom  he  just  then  heard 
giving  thanks,  saying  tartly,  *'  Ladies,  speak  for  your- 
selves :   for  I  find  myself  pretty  badly  damaged  !" 

Now,  there  was  not  the  least  irreverence  or  ingratitude 
in  this  remark,  but  a  natural  outburst  of  sincerity,  and 
an  exhibition  of  practical  caution  and  independence  in 
ascertaining  the  full  extent  of  personal  injuries  before 
reporting  the  case  to  headquarters. 

AN   ALLEGED   HERETIC. 

Dr.  Beecher  had  little  love  or  respect  for  metaphysi- 
cal subtleties,  ecclesiastical  formulas,  or  legal  precedents. 
His  mind  was  intensely  practical,  catholic,  and  progres- 
sive ;  yet  he  could  fight  for  the  defence  of  the  "faith 
once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  with  all  the  boldness  and 
persistency  of  tlie  Apostle  Paul. 


m 


f  1*! 

hi 


44 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES  OF 


In  his  trialr-.  for  heresy  and  disloyalty  to  the  Presby- 
terian standards  before  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  Dr. 
Joshua  L.  Wilson  prosecutor,  Dr.  Beecher  rested  his  case 
mainly  on  this  curt  declaration:  "I  accept  the  Presby- 
terian standards  as  containing  the  system  of  doctrines 
revealed  in  the  sacred  Scriptures,  as  I  understand  those 
standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  ;"  adding,  "  Don't 
you,  Dr.  Wilson,  and  you  brethren  of  the  court  1" 
The  Presbytery,  Synod,  and  General  Assembly  sustained 
him  throughout.  How  could  they  do  otherwise  and  be 
true  to  themselves  and  the  right  of  private  Judgment  ? 


ir^p 


t 
III 


A  ROYAL   PREACHER. 

Dr.  Beecher  was  no  pessimist,  but  an  optimist,  good 
and  true.  As  a  preacher  we  may  say  of  him — as  many 
others  have  said — that  he  was  a  Royal  Preacher.  But 
we  prefer  to  say  that  he  was  pre-eminently  honest,  earnest 
and  direct.  His  practical  preaching  was  doctrinal  and 
his  doctrinal  preaching  was  eminently  practical.  He  was 
not  embarrassed  and  encumbered  by  any  metaphysical, 
theological,  or  philosophical  niceties.  P.e  ha  '.  a  rare 
faculty  of  stating  his  points,  putting  hi?  questions,  and 
answering  objections.  I  have  seen  him  as  he  stood  on  a 
meat-block  in  the  old  Fifth-street  market,  precisely 
where  now  stands  the  Tyler-Davidson  Fountain,  do  this 
work  of  a  debater  with  the  most  admirable  tact  and  pun- 
gency. His  lectures  on  atheism  in  the  dim  light  and 
sooty  atmosphere  of  a  Cincinnati  iron  foundry  and 
boiler  manufactory  were  a  remarkable  exhibition  of  ^his 
power  of  argumentative  eloquence.  Not  even  Moody  at 
his  best  could  have  better  held,  interested,  or  more  per- 
manently impressed  such  an  audience  as  was  then 
gathered  around  him  in  that  cave  of  the  Vulcans. 

A  conservative  reformer. 

In  his  preaching,  Dr.  Beecher  was  a  reformer  only  to 
a  limiied  extent ;  but  in  his  heart  he  was  abreast  with  the 


LYMAN  BEECHER.  45 

foremost.  This  fact  sometimes  gave  Mm  tlie  appeal  ance 
of  great  inconsistency.  He  was  for  "colonization''  on 
the  one  hand,  and  for  immediate  abolition  of  slavery  on 
the  other.  He  was  liberal  and  progressive  in  practical 
doctrine  and  duty,  yet  conservative  in  his  standing  fast 
by  the  old  paths  and  sound  words. 

He  was  naturally  fearful  of  radical  measures,  and  yet 
he  was  at  the  head  of  his  column,  a  plumed  knight  with 
a  Damascus  blade,  and  who  knew  no  fear  amid  the  roar 
and  carnage  of  battle  !  At  the  same  time  I  have  heard 
men  tell  of  his  feelings  of  utter  despondency  when 
voters  in  the  parish  were  permitted  by  law  to  pay  their 
church  tax  to  any  other  than  the  regular,  orthodox  town 
meeting  Parish  Church.  And  when  next  he  saw  them 
permitted  by  the  Legislature  to  pay  it  to  an  out-of-town 
church,  and  bring  a. receipt  from  the  proper  officer,  or 
when  finally  permitted  by  law  to  go  anywhere,  or  not  go 
to  meeting  at  all  or  pay  church  tax,  except  by  personal 
choice,  his  heart  utterly  failed  within  him  as  he  thought 
the  bottom  of  the  religious  tub  had  entirely  fallen  out ! 
All  the  while  the  Doctor  was  a  leader  in  the  Gospel  team, 
while  he  was  trying  to  be  a  steady  shaft-horse  in  the 
hills.  He  never  broke  a  hold-back  strap,  but  was  ever 
ready  to  break  a  hame-string  at  a  hard  pull  at  any  fme. 

MANY-SIDED. 

Dr.  Beecher  was  a  masterpiece  of  divers  colors.  He 
was  looked  upon  not  only  as  eccentric  but  inconsistent  by 
those  who  did  not  know  him.  The  red,  white  and  blue 
mingled  in  wonderful  combination,  but  the  true  blue  al-  * 
ways  predominated.  In  fishing,  he  never  missed  a  bite, 
nor  waited  for  a  second  one.  In  hunting,  he  never  rested 
his  gun  an  a  post  or  fence,  but  took  his  game  always  on 
the  wing.  This  was  characteristic  of  him  both  m  the 
material  and  intellectual  world.  In  his  day  he  was  as 
popular  as  his  son  Henry  Ward  has  since  been,  and  he 
drew  as  large '  audiences,   even  greater,   comparing  the 


46 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES  OF 


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times  in  which  they  each  have  lived.  Tlie  father  was 
not  as  learned  as  is  his  son  Edward,  nor  as  poetical  and 
imaginative  as  his  daughter  Harriet,  but  I  venture  the 
opinion  that  the  father  will  be  remembered  when  all  his 
children  are  forgotten. 

IN  PRIVATE  LIFE. 

Lyman  Beecher  had  no  ambitions,  no  jealousies,  no 
rivalries,  no  resentments  Nor  had  he  any  tiaws,  stains, 
taints,  nor  serious  inconsistencies  of  private  or  public 
character  to  mend,  defend,  or  conceal,  during  a  long  life 
of  the  most  intense  and  radical  service  in  the  Church  of 
Christ.  He  retired  from  the  battle-field  of  life,  on  which 
he  had  been  a  captain  of  renown  for  more  than  half  a 
century,  with  clean  hands  and  a  pure  heart.  He  retired 
manfully,  and  with  cheerful  acquiescence.  He  was  con- 
scious that  his  work  was  done — and  well  done.  He 
passed  away  to  the  better  land,  where,  I  doubt  not,  he 
was  welcomed  with  the  joyous  greeting,  "  Well  done,  good 
and  faithful  servant,  enter  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord  !" 

Property  he  never  had,  never  sought,  and  never  could 
keep,  if  he  had  it.  Nor  did  he  ever  seek  name,  fame,  or 
leisure.  I  once  heard  him  affirm  that,  after  forty  years 
of  intense  and  incessant  labors  in  the  ministry,  he  had 
never,  at  any  one  time,  laid  up  money  enough  to  have 
met  his  funeral  expenses,  had  he  died. 

Less  than  one  thousand  dollars  a  year  for  his  half-cen- 
tury services  in  some  of  the  most  conspicuous  stations, 
would  be  a  fair  average  of  his  yearly  income,  notwith- 
standing the  support  and  educntion  of  an  unusually 
large  family  of  sons  and  daughters. 

HIS   CLOSING  DAYS. 

Dr.  Beecher  left  Lane  in  1851.  He  and  Professor  Stovra 
had  given  eighteen  years  of  hardest  work  in  laying 
foundation-stones.  They  had  also  imbued  the  people 
with  a  new  inspiration  with  which  to  build  a  glorious 


> 


LYMAN   BEECHER. 


47 


; 


superstructure  of  education  and  religion  in  the  ereat 

West !  ^ 

Dr.  Beecher's  work  was  done.  He  retired  to  dear  old 
Boston  on  a  small  annuity  from  his  former  parishioners 
and  friends,  and  then  in  1856  to  Brooklyn,  where,  Janu- 
ary 10th,  1863,  he  closed  his  long  career  of  eighty -eight 
years  in  peace. 

He  was  very  dear  to  me.  I  loved  him  as  my  spiritual 
father.  He  led  me  to  the  Saviour.  He  received  me  into 
the  Church  and  brought  me  into  the  ministry.  He  was 
my  theological  instructor,  encouraged  and  aided  me  in 
my  pastorate  at  Cincinnati,  where  we  toiled  side  by  side 
for  ten  eventful  years.  I  anticipate  a  meeting  with  him 
ere  many  days,  where  our  fellowship  will  be  eternal. 
The  sunset  soon  will  give  the  signal  that  releases  me 
from  the  harvest  field. 
As  Horatius  Bonar  sayh 

"  From  tins  right  hand  its  cunning  is  departing. 
This  wrinkled  palm  proclaims  its  work  is  done, 
Death  in  these  pulses  daily  groweth  stronger,  ' 

Life's  ruby  drops  arc  oozing  one  by  one." 

We  shall  not  long  be  separated.  I  wait  to  greet  him 
in  the  Heavenly  Home  !  I  wait  in  the  patience  of  hope  ! 
I  wait  in  the  love  of  that  ministry  which  he  inspired  me 
to  undertake,  in  that  love  which  knows  no  burden,  and 
in  that  hope  which  has  no  fear  I 


